Two township projects entangled in red tape

Firms shying away from projects due to slump in real estate

Mega projects, including Techno City at Tellapur and Discovery City at Srinagar along the Outer Ring Road (ORR), have not seen much progress three years after they were launched. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) had promised to hand over 400 acres for the township project but handed over a mere 100 acres and asked private agencies to develop the integrated township at Tellapur. Officials claimed that the private agencies have been shying away from both the projects due to slump in the real estate and the delayed response from the state government.

The Tellapur integrated township located on the city’s outskirts has run into trouble with real estate firm Tishman Speyer asking the Telangana government to either allow it to take up the project on 100 acres or return the money that was paid about a decade ago. Tishman signed an MoU in 2007 and paid `446 crore to the government for 100 acres, at the rate of `4.46 crore per acre. The township was to have been completed in eight years with a built-up area of 30 million square feet. The entire deal was worth `1,700 crore for 400 acres.

About the Discovery City project at Srinagar, even HMDA official are clueless about its status and other details. The private agency, which has 374 acre land, has asked the government for another 183 acres of assigned and patta land to go ahead with the project. The issue was brought to the notice of urban development minister K. T. Rama Rao who then ordered the setting up of a special committee which would submit a report at the earliest. The committee is yet to submit a comprehensive report.

A senior HMDA official said the Tishman Speyer company paid `446 crore for 100 acres in Tellapur, after which the land was registered and position certificate issued. The issue pertaining to 300 acres lies in the state government’s court and project would go ahead only after its approval, the official said.