Realtors move to cash in as land banks open

HYDERABAD: With over 1.32 lakh acres of land in the Osmansagar and Himayathsagar catchment areas set to be freed from GO 111 restrictions, realtors who have already invested their money in buying land in the region are looking to push for converting them for commercial use.
According to sources in the revenue department, apart from 30,000 acres of government land, most of the remaining private land is no longer with the farmers but with businessmen, realtors, industrialists, politicians and others.
Since January 2023 till date, around 366 land registrations took place across Shankarpally, Janwada, Fatehpur and Mirzaguda areas.
Realtors, who purchased land in GO 111 areas, are waiting for clear guidelines and regulations from the high-level committee headed by the chief secretary to make their next move to convert the purchased farmland for commercial or residential use.
“There needs to be more clarity. While the government says that HMDA rules for layout and construction permits will apply, the regulations set by the high-level committee are kept in the dark,” Ravi Kumar, a realtor based in Janwada, said.
Sources said while the land rates have skyrocketed after the government issued GO 69 which removed the restrictions on construction activity in GO 111’s para 3, the number of registrations, however, had dropped. Currently, an acre of land in the surroundings of Janwada town costs around 3 crore and the price will increase further if the land is closer to Shankarpally main road that connects several GO 111 villages.
“Last month, there were around 45 registrations. Compared to last year, the number of registrations has come down by 20% to 30% after we raised the book value of the land. Also, the registrations dipped due to the steep increase in the market value,” a revenue official at Shankarpally MRO office told TOI.
While welcoming the government’s move, some realtors said there is a need to prepare a master plan with proper zoning of residential and commercial spaces.
“We also want the twin reservoirs protected. The entire 84 villages cannot be seen as a buffer zone. The government should take protective measures in the villages on the edge of the lake and STPs can be built there to ensure that the water is kept clean,” CREDAI president P Ramakrishna Rao told TOI.
Ramakrishna Rao said the villages downstream cannot have such restrictions, claiming that it would not be fair towards the villagers residing there.