Telangana Minister Sridhar defends TGIIC debenture deal, accuses BRS of spreading fake visuals
HYDERABAD: Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) has raised nearly Rs 10,000 crore through a private placement of senior secured, taxable, redeemable, non-convertible debentures, using 400 acres of land adjacent to the University of Hyderabad as “pre-collateral”, IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu said on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, the minister said the proceeds were used for welfare schemes, including the farm loan waiver (Rs 2,146 crore), Rythu Bharosa (Rs 5,443 crore), and a bonus for cultivating fine variety of rice (Rs 947 crore).
Dismissing the allegations made by BRS working president KT Rama Rao that ICICI Bank violated RBI norms and extended a loan to the state government, Sridhar Babu clarified that the private bank did not sanction any loan. It merely maintained an escrow account for the bond transaction.
“Since the debenture amount had to be deposited in a bank, it was placed with ICICI Bank. ICICI acted only as a merchant banker, not as a loaning agency. However, KTR is making baseless claims that ICICI sanctioned the loan,” the minister said.
He emphasised that the entire transaction was conducted in full compliance with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulations. The TGIIC raised the redeemable debentures from market investors at a competitive interest rate of 9.35% through mutual fund bonds.
Sridhar accuses KTR of misrepresenting valuation figures
“An independent valuation of the land was conducted by a debenture trustee on behalf of the investors and approved for mortgage,” Sridhar Babu explained.
He accused Rama Rao of misrepresenting the valuation figures, claiming the land was worth Rs 5,200 crore. He clarified that the certified valuation, conducted by a consultant associated with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India and the Commodity Research Bureau Index (CRBI), pegged the land value at Rs 20,563 crore. He dismissed Rama Rao’s inflated claim of Rs 30,000 crore as exaggerated.
Ruling out any irregularities, he stated, “These are rated, listed, senior, secured, redeemable, taxable, transferable, non-convertible debentures. Bonds worth Rs 9,995 crore were approved only after SEBI clearances. It’s all part of an integrated process.”
He further informed that a consortium of 37 institutional investors participated in the bidding, with individual investments ranging from `8 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
‘BRS used AI, fake videos to mislead public’
Refuting Rama Rao’s claim that the 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli are under litigation, Sridhar Babu clarified that there is no pending case in any court, following a final verdict by the Supreme Court.
He accused the BRS of circulating fake, morphed, and AI-generated visuals to manipulate public opinion. He cited a nine-year-old video from Rajasthan being falsely presented as recent footage of deer being killed at the University of Hyderabad. He also pointed to fabricated visuals of elephants allegedly roaming the UoH campus, superimposed onto images of earthmovers using AI tools.
Criticising the BRS and BJP for what he called selective environmental concern, Sridhar Babu questioned why the BRS was silent when 207 trees were uprooted for the construction of the Secretariat or when 8,000 acres of forest were cleared for the Kaleshwaram project. He also mocked the BJP-led Union government for admitting in Parliament that 12.12 lakh trees were cut between 2016 and 2019.
REVANTH WILL CONTINUE AS CM, SAYS MINISTER
HYDERABAD: IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu on Saturday asserted that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was doing a good job and taking Telangana on the path of progress, giving no scope for corruption in the administration. He was responding to BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri’s statement on Friday that he (Sridhar Babu) was suitable for the chief minister’s post. Sridhar said that the MP may have expressed the opinion because of their association since their childhood.
“Revanth’s governance is good, he will continue to be chief minister,” the minister observed. Sridhar Babu clarified that AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan didn’t participate in official review meetings. He said that she met him and his ministerial colleagues to discuss politics.