BRS working president KT Rama Rao has accused Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of orchestrating a Rs 10,000 crore financial scam involving the Kancha Gachibowli land, near Hyderabad Central University (HCU), chalking this up as the reason behind the state government’s eagerness to clear the green cover.
Demanding an investigation by central agencies, the BRS said it would file complaints with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and even move court. Rao claimed that the state government illegally mortgaged the 400 acres of “forest” land adjacent to the Hyderabad Central University to secure a Rs 10,000 crore loan from a private bank. He further alleged that a BJP MP played a central role in facilitating the scam by introducing a brokerage firm to the state government to secure the loan.
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Rao, popularly known as KTR, said the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) went ahead with mortgaging the land despite lacking a legal title, having no sale deed, mutation, or alienation process to establish ownership. “The land was never transferred to TGIIC.” He also alleged that there were glaring discrepancies in the land’s valuation. He said that initially, the 400 acres were valued at Rs 30,000 crore and at the per-acre value of Rs 75 crore, which was then reduced to Rs 52 crore five months later when assessed by a new agency. After a market assessment, it was again reduced to Rs 41.6 crore.
“How can land worth Rs 5,000 crore be inflated to Rs 30,000 crore and then conveniently reduced to Rs 16,640 crore? This is a textbook case of financial manipulation,” he alleged.
He claimed that the MP’s involvement was the sole reason why the private bank approved the loan despite the land’s disputed status. “The BJP MP will be named soon. The state government has promised undue benefits to him through this deal,” said Rao while adding the central government’s inaction would confirm a nexus between the BJP and the Congress.
He demanded that the bonds of Rs 10,000 crore issued by the state government in an irregular manner should be cancelled. He demanded a probe into the role of the chief minister in the scam and the broker companies that facilitated the illegal mortgage.
KTR accused the state government of bypassing the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management regulations and paying the broker firm Rs 129 crore. Moreover, out of the Rs 10,000 crore loan, only Rs 5,000 crore went to farmers through welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, while the rest was siphoned, paying commissions, bills to contractors and loyalists of the Cabinet ministers, alleged the BRS working president. He also warned that the Congress government was planning to loot an additional Rs 60,0000 crore by using similar fraudulent means on plots owned by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority(HMDA).
