HYDERABAD: Hitting out at BRS working president KT Rama Rao for levelling “baseless allegations” against the Congress government over land allotment for industries and trying to discourage investors from coming to Telangana, IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu on Tuesday defended the decisions, stating that all allocations were made by a committee “based on established rates and without any political influence”.
During an informal chat with the media at the Congress Legislative Office here, the minister said that the government constituted a committee in 2024 to look into demands for land allotments and the same panel finalised the prices based on prevailing norms.
Questioning the basis of Rama Rao’s allegations, he said: “The previous BRS government allotted land at Rs 90 lakh per acre, while the Congress government allotted land at Rs 1.5 crore per acre, based on the rate fixed by the committee.”
“The price suggested by the committee was considered in the allotment of the land under discussion. Neither the chief minister nor any other minister was part of the board that fixes the price. The decision was taken independently by the committee,” he added.
The minister further explained that 32 companies had applied for the land, and the company being referred to by Rama Rao was only one among them. He maintained that the political leadership was not part of the company’s board and questioned how the government could be held responsible for claims circulating on social media.
Asking Rama Rao to first ascertain the facts before levelling allegations against the government and the Congress leaders, he said: “The company in question had proposed an investment of Rs 34 crore and promised to provide direct employment to 80 people and indirect employment to another 40 people. But KTR puts the figure at Rs 200 crore. They are just inflated figures.”
Referring to another allegation that the government had allotted land after considering possible future gains from transactions, Sridhar Babu asked whether the same yardstick should be applied to land allotted during the BRS regime. “The company had obtained import-export permission in 2023, registered under the Startup India initiative and also applied for a trademark. It has an export order book worth $172,800. It has also been paying salaries to its employees since April 2026,” he further said.
Taking a dig at Rama Rao, he said that even basic details being cited in allegations appeared questionable. “Can a phone number be 123456? How can one speak about anything and level allegations without any basis?” he wondered.
Defends PM Ekta Mall tendering process
Sridhar Babu also defended the tendering process for the establishment of PM Ekta Mall, saying it was conducted transparently and that there were no irregularities or shortcomings. “There was no change whatsoever in the tender conditions,” he added.
Ekta Mall is an initiative announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 for promotion and sale of ODOP products (One District, One Product), Geographical Indication (GI) products and other handicrafts from across the country.
Accusing Rama Rao of trying to prevent industries from coming to Telangana, he asserted that he was aware of all matters being handled by his department. “We will formulate policies, while the land allotment committee will take care of land allocations. Nobody needs to tell me how to handle my department,” he said.
On the Hyderabad Industrial Lands Transformation (HILT) policy, Sridhar Babu said the government had formulated the policy to provide an opportunity to those who had purchased land but were not undertaking industrial activity. He clarified that the lands concerned were privately owned and not government lands. “There is nothing wrong in regularising lands that were given on lease during KTR’s regime. We are not regularising lease lands in the way they did,” he said.
The minister said that the BRS leader was free to seek clarification if he has any doubts, but objected to targeting the chief minister’s family with baseless allegations.
He also said that Rama Rao’s allegations had prompted the present government to consider examining land allotments made during the BRS regime as well.