HYDERABAD: The state government and the State Bank of India (SBI) have reached an amicable settlement in the Raidurg land dispute, with the bank agreeing to the alternative proposals put forward by the government. As part of the agreement, SBI will withdraw its petition pending before the Telangana High Court.
The decision was taken during a meeting held at the Secretariat on Saturday, following earlier discussions between the two sides on June 22.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and attended by Finance Principal Secretary Sandeep Sultania, TGIIC Vice Chairman and Managing Director K Shashanka, and SBI officials, including GS Rana, DBD & CDO, Neelesh Dwivedi, Chief General Manager (Telangana), and AGM G Poovazhagi.
An SBI team had visited the alternative sites suggested by the state government on June 23 before accepting the proposal.
The officials said further action would be taken after obtaining approval from the bank’s Board. The necessary legal and statutory formalities would be completed in accordance with the ongoing court proceedings, following which the matter would be resolved expeditiously, the government said.
The dispute centred around a 5.09-acre plot in Survey No 83/1 at Raidurg Panmaktha in Rangareddy district. The Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) had auctioned the land. Later, claiming that the land belonged to it, SBI had challenged the auction in the high court.
Taking a serious note of the decision taken by SBI, the government contemplated discontinuing its financial relations with the bank by withdraw government deposits and shifting salary accounts of employees to other banks. The government also considered raising the issue with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union Finance Ministry.
After the SBI officials came forward for talks, the government refrained from taking tough measures against the bank.