Government land bidders under PAC net
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has decided to recommend to the state government recovery of the money from companies which bid for government land in public auctions but have not paid up still.
The committee members, who met under the chairmanship of Revuri Prakash Reddy (TDP) in the Committee Hall of the Assembly here on Thursday, reviewed the land auctions conducted by the Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada municipal corporations with the officials concerned.
They also reviewed at length the auctions of lands at Kokapet, Rayadurg and Miyapur within the purview of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).
Etela Rajender (TRS) told reporters later that the PAC had reviewed all land auctions conducted at Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. He disclosed that some companies which had bid for government lands in public auctions had not paid paid up till now.
“Especially, companies which have taken government lands for housing purposes have not paid the money to the government. The committee has therefore decided to recover the money from those companies,” Rajender said. B.Durga Prasad and N.China Rajappa (both TDP) said the committee extensively reviewed the public auctions at Kokapet, Rayadurg and Miyapur and found that the firms which bid for these lands had not paid the money in full to the government. But these autions are facing legal hurdles and awaiting court verdict on August 29.
Soon after the judgment the PAC would recommend to the government recovery of dues from the bidders, Durga Prasad said.
The committee asked the principal secretaries of revenue and municipal administration departments to submit a detailed report on the land auctions conducted under the jurisdiction of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation to the PAC by the end of this month, basing on which the PAC would initiate action against the defaulting firms.
The members decided to visit the lands allotted for industrial purpose in Ranga Reddy, Medak and Mahbubnagar districts on August 31.