Hyderabad: In colossal exercise to build up revenue mobilisation, the Telangana State government is planning to take over thousands of assigned land given to farmers in prime areas — especially Ranga Reddy and Medchal district. They plan to auction this at the market rate.
According to official sources, the collectors of various districts surrounding Hyderabad have been asked to identify assigned lands in their respective vacant dominions.
With no major chunks of vacant land available around Hyderabad as most of it has been given to companies, auctioned or encroached, the state is now looking at assigned land allotted to farmers several decades ago for cultivation. but without ownership rights. The government has the power to do whenever it wants with the land as there was little farming around Hyderabad. Now it intends to compensate farmers and subsequently auction their land, Time News Network (TNN) reports.
As a precursor, a sample survey was done in the five villages of Ranga Reddy district and if auctioned, this assigned land is estimated to be worth over Rs. 3,500 crores.
“There are 1,450 acres in five villages — Kongara Khurd, Thummaloor, Raviryal (near Shamshabad airport) villages in Maheshwaram Mandal, Madhapur in Kandukur Mandal and Rayannaguda in Shamshabad Mandal — that could fetch about Rs 3,580 crore. After paying about Rs 1,220 crore compensation to farmers, the government will receive nearly Rs 2,360 crore,” an official said.
Apart from allocated land, the state government has already indicated its plans to auction government property to raise funds that would be used for executing irrigation projects and welfare schemes.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) is planning to auction about 600 acres in Kokapet where the layout is being developed. The Ranga Reddy administration has reported that there were about 665 acres (including evacuee property) in Puppalaguda with no allocated lands in the area. Of 665 acres, 188 acres were cleared and unassigned land which could be auctioned, official sources said.
“Once the government acquires all the property details, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to decide whether to obtain the assigned land as well as auction government land around the city,” claimed a Senior Official in the chief minister’s office.