The Telangana government, headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, is on an auction spree to sell off government lands in the outskirts of Hyderabad city, which command a huge real estate value.
Not even 24 hours have passed since the Kokatpet land auction fetched an average price of nearly Rs 75 crore per acre, with the highest bid reaching over Rs 100 crore per acre, and the Telangana government earning more than Rs 3,300 crore by selling 45 acres.
Now, the BRS government has lined up another auction to sell off 100 acres in Budwel on the city outskirts.
The KCR government has been selling lands in and around Hyderabad since 2015 to raise funds for welfare schemes and development programs.
However, this auction spree has reached extreme proportions since 2021, with the government struggling to fund schemes like Rythu Bandhu, Dalit Bandhu, Aasara pensions, and the payment of interest on loans taken for Kaleshwaram, Mission Bhagiratha, and other purposes.
In fact, the KCR government has sold more lands in Hyderabad than all Seemandra rulers in Undivided Andhra Pradesh put together.
When the Congress government led by CM YSR auctioned lands in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts between 2004 and 2009, then TRS (now BRS) leaders K T Rama Rao and T Harish Rao staged protests against the land auction. They demanded the Congress government to stop indulging in real estate business in Hyderabad.
Placards displayed by KTR and Harish during the agitation opposing land auctions are now going viral on social media platforms, and the people of Telangana are questioning what the BRS government is doing now.
The KCR government is not just auctioning lands but is even engaging in 'real estate business' on a full scale by developing layouts and selling plots not only in and around Hyderabad but also in municipal corporations and municipalities across the state.
Seemandhra rulers used to have fear and think twice before auctioning lands in Hyderabad. They conducted very few auctions between 2004 and 2014.
However, after the formation of Telangana State, the KCR government has been conducting land auctions every year and almost every month, either in Hyderabad city outskirts or in other districts.
Future governments in Telangana will be left with no government lands for either auction or making allotments for public purposes.
