The Telangana government on Wednesday set its eyes on completion of 18 joint venture housing projects with private parties that were grounded in 2001, but left incomplete. Among the options that were considered by a Cabinet sub-committee that met during the day was resumption of lands that were vacant because the projects did not take off.
After the meeting, Ministers A. Indrakaran Reddy (Housing), Etala Rajender (Finance) and P. Mahender Reddy (Transport) and Principal Secretary-Housing Asok Kumar told media persons that the government would take remedial measures, including seeking legal opinion against projects that were pending due to Central Bureau of Investigation cases and where the vigilance and enforcement wing of the government had submitted reports after enquiry. Even if nine of the 18 projects that were pending were completed, the government would get a revenue of Rs. 600 crore, they said.
The committee members were informed by officials that work on construction of houses did not start at many places and norms were flouted at several others. Therefore, the government did not earn the expected revenue. Only one such joint venture project was successfully completed, they said regretting that 18 more were pending. Among proposals that the government was contemplating were reclaiming of precious land allotted to private players at a time when they did not command a compelling price.
The current market prices were so high that the government could not afford to let go of the opportunity. If necessary, the situation could be re-visited in a manner that would result in a win-win situation - with Government not losing revenue while poor beneficiaries could also be given a house.
