Sale of govt lands in Telangana kicks up fresh row

Desperate to mobilize resources to tide over the financial crisis aggravated by the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the Telangana government is set to begin sale of government lands to raise Rs 20,000 crore, while the move has drawn the ire of opposition parties.

After failing to raise resources through sale of lands for last two years, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government has finally initiated the process for e-auction of identified lands to realize its ambitious Budget for 2021-22. The state's non-tax revenue for 2021-22 was estimated at Rs 30,557.35 crore, including Rs 20,000 crore from sale of land.

It had set a target of mobilizing Rs 10,000 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 14,515 crore in 2020-21 but the government could not even begin the process for sale of land due to the slowdown of the economy amid Covid-19.

Though the country's economic recovery has received a setback due to the second wave of the pandemic and prospects of getting good price for lands do not look bright due to continuing slowdown in the real estate sector, this time the state government is desperate to raise resources.

The pandemic has hit hard the state's finances. It suffered a revenue loss of about Rs 50,000 crore during the first wave of Covid-19 lockdown and another Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 crore in the second wave.

Facing a severe fund crunch, the state is looking to raise additional resources to meet its financial commitments, especially for Rythu Bandhu, the investment support scheme for farmers. Under this scheme, the government will be crediting Rs 7,509 crore to bank accounts of farmers between June 15 and 25.

The government is also facing an additional financial burden of Rs 1,000 crore due to revision of salaries of government employees and for payment of arrears to them. The government also requires more funds to improve health infrastructure. It already announced plans to spend Rs 10,000 crore over next two years to improve infrastructure facilities in government hospitals.

Taking swift actions, the State Cabinet constituted a Sub-Committee headed by Finance Minister T. Harish Rao on resource mobilization and also set in motion the process for sale of government lands.

Harish Rao asked all the departments to prepare a list of properties, land parcels and other properties belonging to the government. The minister justified the government's decision, saying that lands were being sold for the state's development and to implement various welfare schemes.