Telangana Government Offers SBI Alternate Land to Resolve Raidurg Dispute

The Telangana government has offered State Bank of India (SBI) three alternative land locations in Hyderabad, including Raidurg Knowledge City, Osman Nagar, and Bharat Future City, to resolve a protracted legal dispute over a highly valuable five-acre land parcel in Raidurg. The state government is attempting to settle the conflict, which recently reached the high court and resulted in a stay on a planned public land auction.

SBI officials recently inspected the proposed sites and are expected to respond after consulting the bank's headquarters. The dispute centers on a five-acre plot in Raidurg, where land auctioned by the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) recently fetched a record Rs 237 crore per acre.

To resolve the deadlock, the state government offered two parcels of 2.5 acres each as the first two options. One is located near Plot No. 18 in Raidurg Knowledge City, and the other is in Osman Nagar near the Outer Ring Road. While land in Raidurg commands a market value of Rs 160 crore to Rs 200 crore per acre, land in Osman Nagar is valued at approximately Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crore per acre.

As a third option, the government has offered 10 to 15 acres in Bharat Future City. Although land in Future City is significantly cheaper than in Raidurg, the larger acreage is intended to accommodate SBI’s plans to establish a data center or other major facilities.

SBI originally acquired the five-acre Raidurg plot in Survey No. 83/1 at a concessional rate of Rs 13.30 crore per acre in August 2010 to build its corporate office. However, TGIIC cancelled the allotment in January 2021 and completed resumption proceedings the following month.

The dispute escalated in May when TGIIC prepared to e-auction the Raidurg parcel. Despite initial meetings and site inspections by SBI officials, the bank filed a house motion on May 19 to stall the auction and formally rejected the government's alternative land proposal.

Following recent discussions with the state's chief secretary, SBI is reportedly reconsidering the government's latest offers. Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has expressed displeasure over how senior officials handled the matter, noting that they should have engaged with SBI earlier to prevent the dispute from escalating to the high court.