Without being an owner, TGIIC has started bulldozing trees and biodiversity, violating relevant laws, including the Water Land and Trees (WALT) Act, Biodiversity Act and Forest Conservation Act.
Published Apr 11, 2025 | 1:46 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 11, 2025 | 1:46 PM
University of Hyderabad students protesting against the bulldozing of Kancha Gachibowli land.
Synopsis: The TGIIC bulldozed trees and wildlife in the 400-acre controversial Kancha Gachibowli land. Decoding a GO, it seems TGIIC is only an auctioning agent and layout developer of the land. TGIIC is not an efficient and able agency for industrial park development, which is apparent from its work of over 300 industrial parks, most of which are lying empty.
Kancha Gachibowli, the name of a village in the Telangana capital Hyderabad, has become the focus of the media attention and everyone across the country recently.
The proposed auction of 400 acres abutting the University of Hyderabad has many curious angles to it. Information is coming out gradually even as misinformation, and misinterpretation are becoming prominent in some social circles – both virtual and real.
The state government has given an uncharacteristically detailed response, trying to counter false claims and answer some of the questions raised about its decision on the 400 acres.
However, some questions have not been asked yet.
One of them is whether the 400-acre land is being auctioned or being developed into an IT hub. Since its ownership has become a contentious issue too, it is interesting to see the word ‘alienation’ in the Government Order (GO) number 54, issued on 26 June 2024. This word has been used seven times in this two-page document.
What does alienation mean? Does it mean the ownership has been transferred to Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), which is a registered company, and not a government department? There is no ‘alienation’ word in the Telangana Revenue Act. Even the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 2020 does not include this word. Thus, ownership is not with TGIIC.
Without being an owner, TGIIC started bulldozing trees and biodiversity, violating relevant laws, including the Water Land and Trees (WALT) Act, Biodiversity Act and Forest Conservation Act.
Second, the GO has alienated the land “for the purpose of development of IT and mixed-use, on payment of the market value of ₹75.00 crore per acre”, ordaining TGIIC to “mobilise resources on the saleable extent of the land, as per norms and prevailing practice”.
This, most probably, means TGIIC is only an auctioning agent and layout developer of the land. If so, what are the permissions required and taken to change the land use and other laws?
There is no information what kinds of permissions that have been taken.The government of Telangana has most possibly ignored to initiate processes to accord permissions.
For example, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) needs to give permission under the master plan zonal regulations.
Based on the GO, the land was handed over to TGIIC in June 2024. Using this single GO, the agency — despite its experience with multiple auctions — decided to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) on 28 February 2025, eight months after the alienation, for the selection of a transaction advisory consultant to optimise the Master Plan and assist with the auction.
According to the tender document, “TGIIC has proposed to prepare at international standard sustainable Master Plan layout for its land, for developing and auctioning in a phased manner to the prospective buyers for monetisation purpose.”
This is a long-drawn process. It means the auction of this land is not related to debt-laden government coffers as well. There is no economic rationale too.
With real estate, software and other related sections reeling under recession and staunched investment flows, there cannot be an expectation of mobilising finances through the auction of this land in the immediate period.
Interestingly the GO No 54 has fixed the market value to be paid by TGIIC to the government at ₹75 crore per acre. Apparently, the Government of Telangana is expecting a whopping revenue of ₹30,000 crores, from this alienation.
Previously, TGIIC had never shown a capability of raising an amount this huge. That brings us to the question, why TGIIC and why not HMDA? TGIIC can either sell or lease the land or plots to industries, IT and ITeS (IT-enabled Services) companies only. It cannot undertake real estate projects.
Meanwhile, TGIIC auditors made some critical comments about certain norms followed by the corporation for FY 2024-25. TGIIC is a High-Value Debt Listed Entity (HVDLE) under SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015.
Under this, TGIIC has to comply with corporate governance norms and mandatorily disclose to the stock exchange Related Party Transactions (RPTs).
Currently, it is availing a six-month exemption granted for compliance with corporate governance requirements. After this period, it has to submit information as required for being an HVDLE.
Further, TGIIC has a Price Fixation Committee to determine the sale price of the land. This price fixation process includes factors such as the cost of land, estimated land development costs, administrative charges and profit.
According to the information given to the auditors, TGIIC assumes 27 percent of the cost of land and development as company’s administrative overheads and margin.
If this percentage is applied in the case of the 400-acre land in Kancha Gachibowli, ₹8,100 crore out of the expected ₹30,000 crores would go to TGIIC. TGIIC is now seeking a consultancy firm to study and design a real estate plan, as well as assist in auction in land parcels as per the development design.
In the bid document, TGIIC mentioned tentative components of land development, which includes commercial, residential, public parks, green areas and amenity zones. Depending on the competition among the firms, which file the financial bids, an additional cost would have to be integrated into the ₹30,000 crore.
Considering the details in the bid document, this 400-acre land is sought to be developed as a real estate project. If so, TGIIC cannot be the agency to do this.
In its own words, “TGIIC is the nodal agency responsible for planning, development and maintenance of industrial infrastructure and allied facilities across the State. With close to about 300 Industrial parks across the State, TGIIC has spurred the state’s industrialisation journey through the development and operationalisation of many industrial parks”.
Developing real estate projects is not in its mandate or its forte.
TGIIC is not an efficient and able agency for industrial park development, which is apparent from its work of over 300 industrial parks, most of which are lying empty. Several plots are also remaining vacant.
According to its website, on 15 November 2024, it reported 2,463 vacant plots, with a combined area of about 1,42,024 acres, in nine zones. By 2 April 2025, this has increased to 2,495 plots, with a combined area of about 1,77,651 acres.
Apparently, TGIIC is not able to sell the land it had acquired liberally from the government to industries across the state. There could be several reasons. One of them is the fixed prices set for plots. Auditors recently commented that the company had not provided them with the basis for price fixation. Proper accounting is not followed in collecting charges from the plot allottees.
It also shows rent income from the buildings of ITE&C buildings that are not owned by it. In fact, TGIIC does not have records of land owned or alienated from it by the government across the state. It boasts of a land bank of 2,50,000 acres, without proper ownership records for these lands.
Yet, the government of Telangana, in the past 10 years, has exempted TGIIC from the application of land acquisition provisions in several projects, including Hyderabad Pharma City. Currently, it is also the nodal agency in the Future City project as well.
Bosses of this corporation hobnob with industry ministers very closely and behave as if they are the government. There is no known critical evaluation report on its profits, transactions and practices. Audit is also apparently not done, regularly. Telangana Legislature is oblivious of its workings and the inherent malpractices.
TGIIC is also a ‘killer’ of Telangana forests, greenery and biodiversity. Kancha Gachibowli is one example. It has also acquired many acres of reserved forest lands across the state. It has developed Rakamcherla industrial park at the very origin of River Musi near Vikarabad town.
Industrial pollution caused by the Industrial Development Areas (IDAs) and Industrial Estates (IEs) developed by TGIIC, is not its concern, even though it is the manager of these industrial areas.
It does not apply many laws of the land to itself, including the Right to Information, Environment Protection Act, Biodiversity Act and Forest Conservation Act.
The role played by TGIIC in Telangana’s landscape has been dirty before and after the formation of the state in 2014. No public review has been done by the previous BRS government and the current Congress government.
It has become an instrument to alienate ecology from land, assigned land from assignees, agricultural land from farmers and public land from various departments including endowments. It has become a tool for rulers to implement undemocratic, autocratic projects essentially privatising public land resources.
Telangana government has to review the assigned role of TGIIC in development projects, investigate past irregularities, secure lands alienated to it’s in the past few decades and transform it to be an environment-friendly institution.
(Views are personal. Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
