Hyderabad, February 25: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation(GHMC) is planning to mortgage the historic markets (Hissam Gunj (Monda) and Moazzam Jahi) and other properties such as Buddha Bhavan in the city to raise a loan of Rs 600 crore from banks.
Other properties on the list are the GHMC head office in Tank Bund, its circle office at Khairatabad and numerous other open lands owned by the corporation in the city. The state government has given permission to the GHMC to obtain Rs 600 crore loan by mortgaging some of its properties.
The money will be utilised to provide infrastructural facilities such as underground drainage, water lines, street lights and roads in about 800 new colonies that have come up in the surrounding municipalities. Though the GHMC has over 2,000 open spaces, majority of them in the heart of the city, and they are unlikely to be mortgaged since banks are not interested in open spaces. Banks are insisting on lands having constructed buildings.
Heeding this, the civic body has prepared a list of municipal markets, commercial markets and office complexes, each located in more than two to three acres of land in the core city where market value of land is over Rs 50,000 per square yard. “GHMC is soon going to invite expression of interest from national and international banks, and will mortgage its properties with banks that offer the lowest interest rate,” said a source.
The cash-starved GHMC had first proposed to affect a hike of 30 per cent in property tax in 800 colonies to raise revenues and utilise that amount for providing civic infrastructure in those colonies. However, this proposal was rejected by the elected body of corporators.
“We have not yet finalised which of these properties are to be mortgaged,” said the GHMC additional commissioner (finance), Mr Hari Krishna. “That depends upon the banks and the conditions on which the loan would be given. We have numerous open lands that can be mortgaged.”
–Source: Flashnewstoday