Indian Real Estate

Hyderabad, July 26: Influential people in the government have made crores of rupees on land deals with a simple three-step method, using agencies like the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.

Hundreds of acres of land have changed hands by this simple method: 1. Get land acquisition announced and drive down the prices of land to be acquired. 2. Buy land cheap from panicky sellers. 3. Get acquisition withdrawn. One example is Vattinagulapalli. The APIIC moved a proposal to acquire 229.29 acres on 12 January, 2005, in several survey numbers including 70 to 73, 118 to 126, 133 to 135 and 137 to 139.

A contractor, a pharmaceutical group and a film producer almost immediately stepped in and bought off the lands. “When the rate was Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.25 crores in Vattinagulapalli, they bought land for Rs 25 lakhs to Rs 30 lakhs,” V.N. Prasad, a local landowner, told this correspondent.

The APIIC then proposed withdrawal of the acquisition move. “There will be many restrictions on land use because the area is covered under GO Ms No. 111 which regulates growth in the 10-km radius of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar,” a senior APIIC official said.

It took one-and-a-half years for the corporation to that there were restrictions. To date, the withdrawal has not been officially announced. Since May 2004 when the Congress took over, the APIIC has proposed acquiring 4,508.36 acres of land for IT parks and 2,958.09 acres for industrial purposes in Ranga Reddy district.

Another 5,500 acres has been acquired or is in the process of acquisition by Hyderabad Urban Development Authority for the Outer Ring Road and 3,000 acres for the satellite townships.
In Gopanapally, transactions went on despite litigation over acquistion of 439.15 acres in several survey numbers including 145 to 152, 158 to 163 and 267 to 286. Following the APIIC move, some landowners approached court and obtained status quo.

“Contrary to our fears that registrations will be hampered if the case is in the Supreme Court, several people made transactions as can be seen from number of registrations,” a senior official of the stamps and registration department told this correspondent. After the first requisition was made on January 10, 2005, registrations took place in June, October, November in 2005 and March 2006.

The APIIC withdrewing a proposal to acquire land in Poppalaguda just when the Ranga Reddy district administration had completed the process. The APIIC board meeting passed a resolution withdrawing the acquisition. “The lands were knocked off by influential people about a year ago for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 35 lakh against the market rate of Rs 2 crore and above,” sources said. The government transferred a senior APIIC official reportedly for objecting to withdrawal of acquisition.

The list of hit-and-run APIIC acqisition is long. Here is a sample:

* The APIIC is considering withdrawal of acquisition of 565.16 acres in Gundlapochampally in survey numbers 510 to 512 and 520 to 522.

* APIIC proposed a Discovery City and sent requisition to the Ranga Reddy district collectorate on December 23, 2004. Then the corporation sent an intimation hinting at withdrawal.

* APIIC proposed hardware park in Bongloor in Ibrahimpatnam mandal and sent requisition on January 12, 2005, but has decided to withdraw it.

In January 2006, the APIIC proposed to acquire 1,148.12 acres in Sitarampur village of Shabad mandal and 1,245.39 acres in Aloor village of Chevella mandal for establishing industrial parks. The district officials are apprehensive about the fate of the acquisition proposal keeping in view the previous instances.