THE SPIRALLING LAND PRICES IN HYDERABAD HIT A NEW HIGH: AN ACRE GOES FOR RS 30 CRORE!

The spiralling land prices on the Hyderabad outskirts has hit a new high. Tobacco powerhouse Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) has placed a bid of a whopping Rs 30-crore per acre for AP Industrial infrastructure Corporation's (APIIC) land near Madhapur.

This is the highest amount ever offered for land in the state, officials said. Just a decade ago the land prices in the area were hovering around Rs 10 lakh.

But what's surprising is that APIIC had placed only Rs 18 crore per acre as the reserve price and is said to have been taken aback by the 'almost double' price. Indu Projects was the only other bidder and had offered a little over the reserve price of Rs 18 crore per acre.

Prior to this, the highest price for an acre had been Rs 14.5 acre, which was reaped by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda) at Kokapet, also on the city outskirts in Ranga Reddy district, recently.

In all, APIIC has placed on bid 30 acres of prime land at the Hyderabad Knowledge City (Phase I) at Raidurg near Madhapur and divided the land into three portions of 10 acres each: 3A, 3B and 3C. All these three portions were placed on bid separately by APIIC.

What has stumped the officials further is the ITC offer of Rs 28 crore per acre for the second lot of 10 acres and another Rs 25 crore per acre for the third lot despite the land being under litigation.

APIIC made it clear in the auction notice that "the land is offered for development as per the legal opinion obtained from the solicitor general of India subject to the final outcome of the appeals pending with the Supreme Court." ITC's offer has come despite the legal hurdles.

However, it has come to light that ITC has put certain riders while making the offer of Rs 30 crore per acre.

"The bidder has laid down some conditions which we are studying. It is only after taking a decision on them that the corporation will ask the bidder to deposit the 30 per cent of the bid amount that is required to be given first," APIIC executive director D Muralidhar told TOI, but he refused to divulge as to what these conditions were.

According to the auction notice, the successful bidder has to deposit 30 per cent of the bid amount by June 15, 2007, and the remaining 70 per cent by July 16, 2007.

(Courtesy: The Times of India)