Published Aug 13, 2026 | 10:40 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 13, 2026 | 10:40 AM
The plots are located in Hyderabad Knowledge City, close to Durgam Cheruvu and the city's major IT corridor.
Synopsis: BRS MLA T Harish Rao has urged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to halt the proposed auction of 10.63 acres in Raidurg’s Survey No. 83/1, citing heritage status, competing ownership and Waqf claims. The parcel’s history includes a DLF allotment, heritage concerns and an earlier SBI-related land dispute.
Former Telangana minister and BRS MLA T Harish Rao has asked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to immediately halt the proposed auction of 10.63 acres of prime land at Raidurg, alleging that the parcel is caught in a web of heritage, ownership and Waqf-related disputes.
In a letter to the chief minister dated 13 August, Rao said the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) should not proceed with the auction of two plots measuring 5.25 acres and 5.38 acres in Survey No. 83/1 of Raidurg Panmaktha village, since questions over the legal status of the land remain unresolved.
“Proceeding with the auction in the face of such disputes would likely create irreversible third-party interests,” Rao said, arguing that the government should first establish the ownership and legal status of the land.
The two parcels, identified by TGIIC as Plot P1 and Plot P2, together measure approximately 10.63 acres. The corporation has fixed a reserve price of ₹175 crore per acre, putting the combined base value of the two parcels at around ₹1,860 crore. The plots are located in Hyderabad Knowledge City, close to Durgam Cheruvu and the city’s major IT corridor.
The proposed auction has now brought renewed attention to the history of Survey No. 83 and its rocky landscape.
Also Read: After Durgam Cheruvu, Hyderabad to get second iconic cable-stayed bridge
Rao’s letter pointed to G.O. Ms. No. 4 dated January 2, 2003, which, according to him, declared Survey No. 83 of Raidurg Panmaktha village a Heritage Site. He said the state, therefore, had a responsibility to protect the survey number under the Telangana Heritage Act, 2017.
The heritage claim has a separate conservation history. The Society to Save Rocks lists the “Hillocks around Durgam Cheruvu Lake” as a heritage rock precinct. It identifies Survey No. 83 (part) in Raidurg Panmakta among the survey numbers forming part of the area. The Society described the hillocks as lying between Jubilee Hills and Hitec City.
Conservationists had urged the government around 2009-10 to develop the wider area as a park.
The land’s history also involved Gurugram-based real estate developer DLF. The parcel in the area was allotted to DLF but was subsequently resumed, with an alternative parcel provided to the company. The episode followed concerns over the area’s heritage-rock character.
The historical importance of Survey No. 83 is not limited to the heritage issue. Court records showed that the survey number has been the subject of ownership and land-ceiling litigation for decades. In a 2007 judgment, the Andhra Pradesh High Court recorded competing claims involving landowners, purchasers and a cooperative housing society over substantial portions of Survey No. 83 at Raidurg Panmaktha.
Also Read: When Hyderabad lake reclaims road, water strips residents of work
The TGIIC’s auction material identified the two current parcels as P1 and P2 in Survey No. 83/1.
For P1, the corporation has indicated an extent of approximately 5.25 acres, or 25,414.32 square yards. P2 measures approximately 5.38 acres, or 26,023.78 square yards.
The auction brochure, however, made clear that the dimensions and boundaries shown in the promotional material are not final. TGIIC states: “The land extent referenced above is provisional and indicative only. The exact land extent shall be determined by a joint survey to be carried out with the successful bidder.”
It also cautioned bidders that the boundaries shown are only for reference, saying that “These representations do not bind TGIIC and the Transaction Advisor” and that bidders must verify the actual boundaries during site visits.
The brochure further required bidders to independently verify permissible building-height restrictions with the Airports Authority of India before bidding.
The disclosures assumed significance in light of the questions being raised over the land’s heritage status. Rao argued that the government should establish the title and legal status before creating any fresh third-party interest through an auction.
Also Read: The forgotten Nizam-era palaces of Hyderabad
Rao has also cited an earlier auction involving the same survey number.
According to his letter, 6.2 acres had already been auctioned for around ₹237 crore per acre, after which the State Bank of India asserted ownership rights over the parcel. Rao said the matter was pending before the Telangana High Court.
The earlier transaction had itself become a major land dispute. In May 2026, a Raidurg parcel in Survey No. 83/1 reportedly fetched about ₹237 crore per acre at a TGIIC auction. The subsequent dispute between SBI and the Telangana government was later reported to have moved towards an amicable settlement, with the state offering alternative land to the bank.
Rao used this episode to question the decision to auction another 10.63 acres from the same survey number.
“Against this backdrop, proceeding with the auction of another 10.63 acres from the same disputed survey number divided into two plots of 5.25 and 5.38 acres, while ownership of the earlier parcel remains sub judice, raises serious questions of propriety, due diligence and administrative prudence,” he said in the letter.
Also Read: Mulugu’s 13th century Ramappa temple has 21st century problems
The BRS MLA has also brought Waqf-related claims into the dispute.
His letter said Jamia Nizamia had asserted rights over Survey No. 83. He said the competing claims must be examined before the government proceeds with any auction or alienation.
“If the land is Waqf property, it must be duly protected under the applicable Waqf laws,” Rao said, adding that if the government claims the land as its own, it must establish the title through “authentic and original revenue, survey and other relevant records.”
He asked the government to suspend the auction, halt sale, transfer, registration and development activity on the disputed land, preserve and investigate any missing or tampered heritage records, review the earlier 6.2-acre auction and initiate an independent probe into the reported disappearance or misplacement of Waqf records.
Rao also referred to a May 2025 Supreme Court observation, which stressed preserving the property “without creation of any third-party interest” while the state’s legal powers and competing claims are examined.
He estimated the value of the 10.63-acre parcel at around ₹2,000 crore and argued that its commercial value should not override questions of lawful ownership and heritage protection.
The dispute puts two competing considerations around the same parcel into sharp focus: the state’s attempt to monetise some of Hyderabad’s most valuable remaining commercial land, and questions over whether the land can be auctioned before its ownership, heritage status and other competing claims are conclusively settled.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
