Hyderabad University land row: The Kancha Gachibowli row in Telangana gained national attention after Hyderabad University students protested against the state government’s plan to auction 400 acres of land for an IT park, leading to Supreme Court intervention.
During the protests, around 50 students from the University of Hyderabad were detained, many alleging they were ‘forcibly taken away’. Now, the Telangana government has announced the withdrawal of police forces from the varsity campus, but not from the Kancha Gachibowli area, Indian Express and NDTV reported.
In terms of area, ‘400 acres’’ is definitely huge. You may be shocked to know that the parcel of land that ignited such chaos is larger than what India’s historic monuments, such as the Taj Mahal or Victoria Memorial, occupy.
According to real estate reports, even the biggest IT parks of Telangana, including HITEC City in Hyderabad, cover approximately 151-200 acres of land.
So, what is the cost of the Kancha Gachibowli land? How big is it? Why is the Telangana government after it? Here’s a glimpse:
Kancha Gachibowli land bigger than the Taj Mahal?
The Taj Mahal located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, is a tourist hotspot for travellers across the globe. As per the Uttar Pradesh government’s website, the iconic ivory-white marble mausoleum is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare (42-acre) complex.
If the Taj Mahal was to be envisioned within Kancha Gachibowli’s 400 acres, it would take up only 10.5 per cent of the area, as per calculations.
Meanwhile, Kolkata’s iconic Victoria Memorial, which dates back to India’s pre-independence era, is spread over 64 acres, which is only 16 per cent of the Kancha Gachibowli land, which is 400 acres.
Kancha Gachibowli land and other IT parks in Telangana
Telangana’s capital city, Hyderabad, is home to multiple IT parks, which house several tech giants such as Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle, among others.
1. HITEC City: Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City (HITEC City) is one of the biggest IT parks in Telangana. Encompassing parts of Madhapur, Gachibowli, Kondapur, Manikonda, and Nanakramguda, HITEC City is estimated to span over only 151-200 acres, as per multiple real estate reports.
2. Raheja Mindspace IT Park: It is the second largest IT Park in Hyderabad, and houses IBM, Accenture, CSC, Novartis, Deloitte, Amazon, Facebook, Qualcomm, JP Morgan, and Thomson Reuters. As per reports, Raheja Mindspace sprawls over 97.2 acres.
3. ‘V’ IT Park – This IT Park, located in Hyderabad’s Madhapur, is spread over 19.39 acres, which is nearly 90 per cent smaller than Kancha Gachibowli’s 400 acres.
What is the cost of Kancha Gachibowli land?
According to government records accessed by Telangana Today, the total value of the Kancha Gachibowli land is estimated at ₹30,000 crore.
According to Telangana Today, as per a Government Order (GO 54) issued on June 26, 2024, the price of the 400 acres of land was fixed at ₹75 crore per acre after considering the land values at places like Kokapet (where one acre fetched ₹100 crore in the auction).
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