The BRS leader and MLC questioned the secrecy surrounding a Government Order, issued to notify the plan to make TSIIC a public firm.
Published May 12, 2025 | 7:30 PM ⚊ Updated May 12, 2025 | 7:30 PM
K Kavitha said Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy issued the government order secretly to "pledge the lands of the Telangana state" in the stock market and raise thousands of crores of rupees in debt.
Synopsis: BRS leader and MLC K Kavitha suspects that the A Revanth Reddy government is planning to mortgage TGIIC’s land by listing the corporation in the stock exchange.
Expressing doubt that the Telangana government is planning to mortgage the state’s land, BRS leader and MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha demanded a rollback of the decision to convert the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC) into a public limited company.
Speaking to media persons at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday, 12 May, the BRS leader said the decision was part of a conspiracy to mortgage 1.75 lakh acres of the corporation’s land.
She said that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy issued the government order (GO) secretly with an intent to “pledge the lands of the Telangana state” in the stock market and raise thousands of crores of rupees in debt.
Kavitha raised concerns about the future of these lands. She said the GO converting the TGIIC into a public limited company and listing its bonds on the National Stock Exchange was kept a closely guarded secret.
“The GO is neither on the government website nor on the TSIIC’s. Why this secrecy unless the Congress government had ulterior motives?” she asked.
The GO stated that the TGIIC was being converted into a public limited company from a private limited corporation to facilitate wider participation of bondholders and investors in the secondary market, as it had already issued bonds worth ₹9,995.28 crore.
It said the government, in the past, had approved the issue of bonds/debentures like senior, secured, rated, listed, redeemable, taxable, non-convertible bonds for a size of ₹10,000 crore by the TSIIC.
Accordingly, the TGIIC issued bonds worth ₹9,995.28 crore. Given the same, the company got listed at the National Stock Exchange as a high-value debt-listed entity (HVDLE) on 12 December 2024.
Since TSIIC has been incorporated as a state government undertaking under the private limited category, its status has limitations such as restrictions on the right to transfer its shares, a cap of 200 members, and a prohibition on inviting the public to subscribe to any securities of the company.
The GO said that since debentures are being traded in the secondary market, certain categories of investors are facing compliance-related issues, as the corporation is a private limited company.
Besides, some other categories of investors are restricted from investing in securities issued by private limited companies. To ensure wider participation of bondholders and investors in the secondary market, the TGIIC was being converted into a public limited company.
Kavitha, however, suspected that the actual reason behind the conversion of TSIIC into a public limited company is to pledge the entire land bank of 1.75 lakh acres and raise thousands of crores in debt.
She said former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao had built the land bank for the future needs of industrialisation, but Revanth Reddy was now mortgaging them to raise loans, which “is highly reprehensible”.
The MLC alleged that during the 16 months of Congress rule, Revanth Reddy had raised ₹1.8 lakh crore as debt, yet many welfare schemes were either not implemented or implemented only partially. The money was not used for development projects either, she said.
Of the money raised as debt in the past, only ₹80,000 crore was repaid after Congress came to power, and the rest—₹1 lakh crore—was allegedly distributed among big contractors, with Revanth Reddy pocketing massive commissions, she alleged.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
