The Hyderabad government’s plan to raise revenue by selling valuable land across the city hit a snag at Kokapet, where an auction of plot number 17 in the Neopolis Layout had to be scrapped after no one came forward to take the land. HMDA had put up 4.59 acres, worth hundreds of crores of rupees, for auction, but received only a single bid, prompting it to cancel the process. The layout, under a multi-use zone, already has 60-storey commercial, residential and business towers under construction. In the first round of auctions here, land had fetched a record price of over Rs 100 crore per acre, leading officials to expect a high price for the remaining plot as well.
Criticism has followed HMDA’s decision to fix a minimum price of Rs 120 crore per acre for the plot. Many say the high floor price, combined with a Rs 5 crore earnest money deposit, discouraged bidders from participating, leaving the land without takers in the recent auction.
Meanwhile, HMDA is preparing for another round of plot auctions in layouts it is developing at Lemur, Inmulnarva, Bachupally and Mokila. The recent auction at Inmulnarva drew a good response, and officials are now planning to put the 4.59 acres at Neopolis up for auction again, along with plots from these other layouts.