Secunderabad Cantonment Board Clears Rs 35.28 Crore for Elevated Corridors

The Secunderabad Cantonment Board unanimously approved a corrigendum issued by the Ministry of Defence concerning Rs 35.28 crore for defence and cantonment land earmarked for elevated corridor projects on Monday.

The approval clears the way for defence land utilization for the proposed elevated corridors along National Highway-44 and State Highway-01. The decision was taken during a board meeting chaired by Brigadier S Rajeev, President of the Cantonment Board, in Secunderabad.

SCB Chief Executive Officer Arvind Kumar Dwivedi placed the proposal as a formal agenda item before the board. He explained the background of the land transfer and financial arrangements to the members during the session.

According to the CEO, initial working permission had been granted by the Ministry of Defence on March 1, 2014, for the elevated corridor routes. Under the Equal Value Infrastructure framework, the total valuation of the transferred defence and cantonment land was initially calculated at Rs 303,62,32,255. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority deposited the full initial amount into a designated Escrow account at the time.

However, the Cantonment Board subsequently identified variations in the total extent of land affected by the elevated corridor alignment. Following this assessment, the board submitted a revised proposal to the Ministry of Defence seeking an updated working permission covering the revised overall amount of Rs 338,90,36,790.

The Ministry of Defence sanctioned the revised working permission on August 11, 2026. Along with the permission, the ministry instructed the HMDA to deposit the balance variation amount of Rs 35,28,04,535.

The HMDA remitted the required balance funds into an Escrow account maintained jointly by the HMDA and the SCB. Following the deposit, the Cantonment Board formally endorsed the corrigendum, passed an official resolution approving the adjustment, and forwarded the documentation to the Ministry of Defence in accordance with policy guidelines.