HYDERABAD: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday issued an order granting working permission and approving the transfer of defence land to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) for the construction of elevated corridors under the Strategic Road Development Project (SRDP) within Secunderabad Cantonment limits.
Barely 10 days ago, the MoD and state government signed an MoU for the land swap, under which the ministry was to hand over 65.038 acres of land to the state government, which in turn would give 435 acres to the defence authorities. Tuesday’s order facilitates this deal.
For the elevated corridor along National Highway-44, the MoD has approved the transfer of 2,26,039.91 square metres of defence land to HMDA. This will be in exchange for Equal Value Land (EVL) and a cash compensation of Rs 748.58 crore. Similarly, for the elevated corridor along State Highway-1 (SH-1), 4,59,222.70 square metres of defence land will be transferred to HMDA, also against EVL and cash compensation.
An MoU will be signed between the Indian Army and the CEO of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board to formalise the creation of EVL and address cost overruns arising from delays in project execution.
Rajnath Approves funds for scb devpt
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has accepted the request made by Union Coal & Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy to spend `303 crore, which the Telangana government would deposit with the Union government in lieu of transferring the defence land to the state, for the Secunderabad Cantonment development. In response to the Telangana BJP leader’s request, Rajnath Singh has instructed the officials concerned to transfer the amount, which the state government will deposit into the Consolidated Fund of India account to the SCB’s escrow account.