Responding to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and MLA K T Rama Rao’s allegations that the Telangana Government orchestrated a Rs 10,000 crore scam linked to the 400-acre Kancha Gachibowli land adjacent to the University of Hyderabad, state IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu said the allegations were “nonsensical, non-factual and wild”.
KTR alleged that the government manipulated the land to secure a Rs 10,000 crore loan from banks, and claimed that the property was illegally pledged without verifying ownership, conducting environmental assessments, or obtaining forest department approvals. On Friday, he wrote to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Central Vigilance Commission and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), seeking a probe into the alleged issue.
Minister Babu, however, stated that the state government reached out to financial markets via the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) for raising funds through routine and well-established routes, including the RBI and other established precedents followed by any state government to raise capital in lieu of its property.
In a statement, the minister said, “TGIIC appointed iVAS, a subsidiary of CBRE, an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI-certified) valuation consultant, in October 2024, which certified the value of the land is Rs 20,563 crore. The land is litigation-free post the Supreme Court order. Any insinuation that the said land does not belong to the Telangana state government, is both contempt of court and a direct attack on the developmental prospects of the state, and a misleading conspiracy to stall massive jobs creation.”
He further stated that neither has TGIIC applied for loan from any bank, including a multinational bank named by KTR, nor has the bank given any loan to TGIIC. “It is a total lie, and the government shall use its legal instruments against any and all people who are attempting to mislead people on the issue.”
According to the minister, TGIIC has issued rated, listed, senior, secured, taxable, redeemable non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis in response to which several investment/mutual funds expressed confidence and invested in the bonds issued by the corporation. ICICI Bank is just a partner bank for the entire transaction, he said.
“The government thus raised Rs 10,000 crore as per RBI guidelines and following all the laws of the land, both central and state. In fact, the state government of Telangana has issued a direct debit mandate in favour of the RBI for the bonds issue of Rs 9,995.28 crore, which the RBI has duly confirmed,” Babu added.
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While there is no question of any bank visiting the field because no loan was taken, on behalf of the investors, a Debenture Trustee had duly conducted an independent valuation of the land and verified that the land is suitable as collateral for the said levels of valuation, he said, adding that the brokerage firm was selected based on a competitive bidding process and was paid as per standard industry norms.
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