HC raps APIIC for realty loss

HYDERABAD: The High Court on Wednesday directed severe criticism against the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) for venturing into real estate deals and allotting government land to private companies at throwaway rates. Justice Narasimha Reddy made these remarks while reserving orders on a petition filed by the Boulder Hills Villa Owners Association against the state government and seeking a directive to allow registration of villas that they had bought in the controversial Emaar township at Manikonda, Nanakramguda and Gachibowli villages.“Who encouraged APIIC to allot land to a private company like Emaar? How can the government sell land to a private project at `29 lakh per acre when the property was worth crores of rupees? Why is the CBI not concentrating on land allocation issues when an acre was sold at `29 lakh? Why has the government not reviewed the project?” the judge asked advocate-general A Sudarshan Reddy.The advocate-general said a CBI enquiry was looking into various aspects of the Emaar project, including the sale of villa plots for a steep premium over the disclosed price of `5000 per square yard. The government has decided to stop registrations of villas in order to prevent losses to APIIC, he said.