HYDERABAD: IT & Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu on Friday dismissed the allegations levelled by BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Kancha Gachibowli lands issue as “nonsensical, non-factual and wild”.
“After the ‘pink lies’ based on AI-generated pictures, audio and video clips were exposed, a new line of attack against Hyderabad’s development has been launched today,” he said.
In a statement issued here, the minister said: “The state government recently won the Supreme Court case related to the 400 acres of Kancha Gachibowli land from a private player (M/s IMG Bharata). Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) reached out to the financial markets for raising funds, through routine and well-established norms, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other established precedents of raising of capital by any state government in lieu of its property.”
TGIIC appointed iVAS, a subsidiary of CBRE, an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, (IBBI-certified) valuation consultant, in October 2024, which certified that the value of the land is Rs 20,563 crore, Sridhar Babu said. “The land is litigation-free after the Supreme Court order. Any insinuation that the said land does not belong to the Telangana government is both contempt of court and a direct attack on the developmental prospects of the state,” the IT minister said.
Responding specifically to the allegations levelled by Rama Rao earlier in the day, the minister said: “Neither has the TGIIC applied for any loan from any bank, including ICICI, nor therefore has ICICI given any loan to TGIIC. It is a complete lie, and the government shall use its legal instruments against any and all people who are attempting to mislead the public on the issue.”
“TGIIC has issued a rated, listed, senior, secured, taxable, redeemable non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis, in response to which, several investment/mutual funds have expressed confidence and invested in the bonds issued by the corporation. ICICI Bank is just a partner bank for the entire transaction,” he clarified.
‘Raised Rs 10,000 crore as per RBI guidelines’
The government raised Rs 10,000 crore as per RBI guidelines and followed all the laws of the land, both central and state, Sridhar Babu said.
“In fact, the state government issued a direct debit mandate in favour of the RBI for the bonds issue of Rs 9,995.28 crore, which the RBI has duly confirmed,” he said and added, “While there is no question of any bank visiting the field because no loan was taken, on behalf of the investors, a debenture trustee had duly conducted an independent valuation of the land and verified that the land is suitable as collateral for the said levels of valuation.”
The minister further said that the brokerage firm was selected based on a competitive bidding process and was paid as per standard industry norms.
“We sincerely advise the BRS not to politicise every issue for no reason and demand that its leaders stop opposing the development of Hyderabad. These mindless, Luddite reactions of BRS leaders do not augur well for democracy, the people and the state. Just because people defeated you in elections, do not consider the people your enemy,” he told the BRS working president.
Sridhar’s counter
Post-AI fakery, BRS resorting to next level of lies, misinformation
BRS conspiracy to oppose all development of Telangana, in particular Hyderabad, investments, and job creation
Stop mudslinging on routine, process-compliant government financial transactions