In a move to mobilise resources, the Telangana government on Thursday has set in motion the process to sell government lands. Accordingly, a Government Order was issued prescribing the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for nodal agencies for “disposal of government land parcels under the control of various departments, which are not required for any public purpose, located in various prime areas scattered throughout the state by open public auction.” The state Budget for 2021-22 had set a target of raising Rs 20,000 crore through sale of lands, apparently to recover from the economic crisis arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state's non-tax revenue was estimated at Rs 30,557.35 crore, including Rs 20,000 crore from the sale of lands.
The new target was set after the state government failed to undertake the process in 2019-20 and 2020-21, when it had planned to mobilise Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 14,515 crore, respectively. According to the GO issued by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, since land parcels in prime locations scattered across the state are prone to encroachments, the government has permitted for disposal of government land parcels, which are not required for any public purpose by open public auction.
The nodal department will be delegated powers to approve the special terms and conditions and tentative schedule for conduct of e-auction and for fixing of upset price duly considering the prevailing market rates with due diligence. The government also granted permission to engage MSTC, a government of India agency, as a service provider to conduct e-auction on online platforms. The Government Order provides for the constitution of a committee in the nodal department under the concerned principal secretary to the government to finalise bids and approvals.
Earlier, state Finance Minister Harish Rao held meetings with different department secretaries at the Secretariat to assess the extent of lands and other assets owned by various departments in view of the decision to sell. The government has also formed as many as four committees for taking up the process for sale of the government land parcels through e-auction. The steering committee headed by the Chief Secretary will review the status of progress and issue suitable instructions to the concerned authorities for timely implementation.
The lands committee will ensure that litigation free lands are made available for sale/auction. The district collectors concerned will ensure due diligence of the proposed land/plot, demarcation and fixing of boundaries of the land/plot. It will also create a salable land bank which will be at least 1,000 acres. The approval committee will ensure development of lands and preparation of layouts with proper boundaries prior to the conduct of e-auction. Every department shall give approval/clearance within seven days under the TSb-PASS. The auction lands should be declared automatically for multipurpose use. The auction committee will take up the process of preparing the layouts for the identified lands and take up minimum development of the layout/plot.
With IANS inputs