HYDERABAD: With the Telangana government threatening to review its financial relations with the State Bank of India (SBI) over the Raidurg land auction controversy, senior officials of the bank have urged the state not to take any hasty decisions.
A delegation led by SBI chief general manager, Hyderabad Circle, met Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao at the Secretariat on Monday. During the 30-minute meeting, the officials discussed the dispute arising from the auction of a 5.09-acre land parcel at Hyderabad Knowledge City in Raidurg Panmaktha village of Rangareddy district by the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) on June 1.
Sources said the state government has begun compiling details of its bank accounts as well as salary accounts of employees, a move seen as a precursor to withdrawing deposits and shifting accounts to other banks. Against this backdrop, the SBI delegation urged the chief secretary to reconsider any punitive action against the bank.
SBI assures complete cooperation with govt
The officials highlighted SBI’s long-standing association with the state government in its capacity as the lead bank.
According to sources, SBI representatives assured the chief secretary of the bank’s full cooperation in handling government transactions and disbursing benefits under various welfare schemes, while keeping the land dispute separate from its banking relationship with the state. Official sources said the chief secretary prepared a report on the meeting for submission to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy before leaving for Delhi.
Meanwhile, the state government is considering taking up the dispute with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Union government. The chief minister is also likely to raise the issue with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during his ongoing visit to Delhi.
The controversy stems from SBI’s challenge to the auction before the Telangana High Court. The auction fetched the government `1,038.36 crore. The bank has claimed that it purchased the land from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government in 2010 after paying the full sale consideration of `13.33 crore. SBI has maintained that it remains in possession of the property and contended that the original allotment did not contain any provision allowing the government to resume or auction the land.
