Hyderabad: The skyrocketing prices of land has made owning a house a pipedream for most people from the middle class. However, this aspiring section of society could find a saviour in the Telangana Housing Board (THB) which has over 703.36 acres of land bank, 573.16 acres of it in Hyderabad’s immediate neighbour Rangareddy district.
Some of these land holdings are situated between the Outer Ring Road and the proposed Regional Ring Road. The BRS, which had failed to take up any housing projects for the middle classes, had merged the board into the transport, roads and buildings department. The previous BRS government took pride in the prices hitting the roof as a measure of its success.
In this environment, income from stamps and registration of lands grew from Rs 3,102 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 4,041 crore in 2016-17, Rs 12,372 crore in 2021-22, Rs 14,295 crore in 2022-23. The current Congress government is also eyeing to garner Rs 18,228 crore in 2024-25.
Dr Parupally Anjaneyulu, senior research associate at the CESS (Centre for Economic and Social Studies) in Hyderabad said, “Creating more districts increased real estate prices benefitting the realtors making land a pricey commodity, though there are some advantages.”
Board officials said that with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka hinting at building clusters between the ORR and RRR, they would need to recruit engineers to execute the projects. “By December 2025, all the technical staff (engineers) with us would have retired,” the official informed.
Explaining how the projects taken up by the board would be the best bet for the middle classes, an official informed that people would get dispute-free property, unlike private ones which take them for a ride in the name of pre-launch offers.
The government had in reply to a question from a BJP member in the Assembly recently informed that of the 177 employees in its rolls, only 43 are regular employees.
“Our project costs are determined on a cost-to-cost basis. We add administrative costs of 10 per cent for LIG (low-income group), 12 per cent for MIG (middle-income group) and 15 per cent for HIG (high-income group) while determining the cost of delivery of houses.”
The board, they said, would be able to take up projects if Rs 126 crore due from government departments was paid to the Housing Board. The rent defaulters included the commercial taxes department which garners the maximum revenue. About 3,200 acres of the board’s land is also locked in a bifurcation dispute with the AP government.
