Madhapur Trident Hotel biggest lease defaulter, owes TS Rs. 87.66cr

An RTI filed by Hyderabad-based Forum for Good Governance revealed that nine private entities to whom the Telangana tourism department had leased prime parcels of land have defaulted to the tune of Rs. 272 crores.

They include Three Star Hotel (Rs. 50.35 crores), Prasad (IMAX) (Rs 27.45 crores), Expotel (Rs. 15.13 crores), Snow World (Rs. 15.01 crores), Jalavihar (rock garden) (Rs. 6.51 crores), Golf Course Shamirpet (Rs. 5.58 crores), and Daspalla (Rs. 1.08 crores).

M. Padmanabha Reddy, the secretary of Forum for Good Governance, said, "Through the RTI application, we have collected information pertaining to ventures located in Hyderabad. In all, the nine units owe around Rs. 271.74 crores to the state. There may be many more such units elsewhere in the state."

He added, "The developers got prime lands and made huge profits, but they have not paid the rent for years. We have reasons to believe that defaulters with political clout are limiting the Tourism Development Corporation's activities to just issuing notices and it is not allowed to make any further moves."

Who owes how much to Hyderabad Water and Sewerage Board?

Mission Bhageeratha, a state government department, owes Rs. 601.32 crores to the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewage Board (HMWSSB). This is the highest amount due to HMWSSB by a state department, according to an RTI response filed by the Forum for Good Governance.

The revenue department said Rs. 1,519 crores is due from various state and Central government departments and agencies.

The HMWSB said of the Rs. 1,519 crores, state government departments owe Rs. 1,267 crores while Central government departments owe Rs. 252 crores. While the Central government organisations owe Rs. 233.69 crores, public sector units owe Rs. 18.15 crores.

The state government agency that owes the highest amount is Mission Bhageeratha (Rs. 601.32 crores).

The panchayati raj and rural development department owes Rs. 539.63 crores while the health, medical, family, and welfare department owes Rs. 41.70 crores. The municipal administration and urban development department owes Rs. 18.13 crores, the housing department owes Rs. 22.33 crores, the home department owes Rs. 14.56 crores, the general administration department owes Rs. 9.40 crores, and the transport, roads, and buildings departments owe Rs. 7.11 crores.

As per the RTI, the last time a notice reminding the government departments to clear the dues was sent on 17 June 2021.

TS property tax dues

It should be mentioned that the Telangana government owes around Rs. 5,258 crores in property tax to the GHMC. An amount of Rs. 306 crores in property tax is due from state government undertakings. The amounts are pending from one to 25 years.

The Telangana medical department owes the highest amount of Rs. 1,185.18 crores in property tax that has been pending for over 23 years. Apart from the medical department, the Prohibition and Excise departments, which provides Rs. 35,000 crores annually, have dues of Rs. 895 crores for 21 years. The police department has dues of Rs. 420 crores for about 12 years and the education department Rs. 385 crores for 16 years.

The government undertaking bodies such as HMWSSB owes around Rs. 70 crores for over four years, while TSSPDCL owes around Rs. 47.19 crores over four years. Sports stadiums in the city owe around Rs. 58.44 crores for over nine years.