Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president and former Telangana minister K.T. Rama Rao has sought Rahul Gandhi’s intervention, recalling the Congress leader’s stance against the destruction of Aarey forest in Mumbai.
This is brazen green murder by destroying 400 acres of precious lung space in western Hyderabad
You can hear the peacocks crying for help as the bulldozers and JCBs of the Congress Govt rummage
If you don’t speak up now, it’s on you Mr @RahulGandhi #SaveHCUBioDiversity pic.twitter.com/iPxnhSgAdv
— KTR (@KTRBRS) March 31, 2025
ThePrint takes a look at the government’s proposal and the row it has sparked.
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Who controls the land?
The 400-acre patch in question is part of about 2,500 acres of land allocated to the University of Hyderabad, also known as Hyderabad Central University, established by an act of Parliament in 1974, by the then undivided Andhra Pradesh government. Then a remote area, about 20 km away from central Hyderabad, the land is now at the heart of Hyderabad’s financial district.
The 400-acre area, in survey number 25 at Kanche Gachibowli village of Serilingampally mandal in Ranga Reddy district, has been highly sought after in the wake of the IT and corporate growth, and the real estate development in the area, over the past two decades. The patch is surrounded by the university and the International Institute of Information Technology on one side, and Indian School of Business, and campuses of tech giants like Microsoft on the other.
In January 2004, after successfully hosting the 2003 Afro-Asian Games at the adjacent Gachibowli sports complex, the then Chandrababu Naidu-led government had allotted these 400 acres to IMG Academies Bharat Private Limited for development of sports facilities.
However, in November 2006, Naidu’s successor Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had cancelled the allotment to IMG for not commencing the project. The land was then allotted to the state youth advancement, tourism and culture department.
IMG challenged the cancellation in the high court and the legal battle dragged on until the Revanth Reddy government pursued the case vigorously after coming to power in December 2023. In March 2024, the Telangana High Court ordered in favour of the government.
IMG then moved the Supreme Court, which also dismissed the petition in May last year. In compliance with the court order, officials in the Chief Minister’s Office said, the Telangana government took possession of the 400-acre patch.
In June 2024, after the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) submitted a proposal to allocate these 400 acres to it for setting up IT and other projects, the revenue department transferred the rights to TGIIC on 1 July, 2024, said the officials.
What Telangana government says
On Monday, the state’s revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the state government has absolute ownership of the patch. “We took possession of the land, having won legal cases in the high court and supreme court. Not even an inch here belongs to HCU. Any opposition or disputes created will be contempt of court,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who is an HCU alumnus, said Tuesday that the university has been under the impression that the land is under its authority. “When the TDP government gave 400 acres to a private firm, a 397-acre land on the other side in Gopanpally was allocated, in its lieu, to the university.”
Speaking to media persons, accompanied by another university alum, IT and Industries Minister Sridhar Babu, Bhatti said the government has all proof of the agreements signed between the revenue officials and the then university registrar. Sridhar Babu said that auction and development will not affect the ecosystem—the scenic Peacock Lake and Mushroom rock, natural formations, etc., and that the students will continue to have access to these spots.
The ministers accused the opposition parties, especially the BRS, of spreading misinformation, including old pictures of a dead deer, and misleading the students.
TGIIC and CMO officials said that revenue records “clearly show that the 400 acres are not forest land”, even as the BJP has claimed that the state government is auctioning land under the forest zone.
Officials added that in July 2024, a survey was carried out by TGIIC with the consent of the university registrar, for boundary demarcation as the 400-acre patch was contiguous with the university. “The boundaries were finalised on 19 July, 2024, following the survey conducted in the presence of the university registrar, university executive engineer, revenue inspector, mandal surveyor and other officials,” an official said.
What university students & protesters say
Regardless of the legalities and ownership, protesters demand that the land be left untouched, as it is home to deer, pythons, peacocks, hares, wild boars and other organisms, has massive rock formations and water bodies, and provides a breath of fresh air in the IT corridor.
Since the university—recognised as an Institution of Eminence—is expanding, the HCU community deems the loss of land extremely concerning.
Current and former students, and teachers, say that subsequent governments took away pockets of land for various projects, like the IIIT, Gachibowli stadium, HCU bus depot, a power station, a school, and also a shooting range. “Now, these 400 acres, which we see as integral to our campus, are also being grabbed,” a student said.
For the past two-three days, the students have been staging protests. On Sunday, they attempted to obstruct earth movers levelling the land amid heavy police cover. Around 50 students, including several women and some office bearers of the university student union, were taken into custody.
On Tuesday, after the Ugadi and Eid holidays, students boycotted classes and staged protests at the university administration block. The student union launched an indefinite strike, accusing the university administration of “betraying the students by facilitating land clearing activities and allowing brutal police crackdown on protesting students”.
The students are demanding immediate removal of the police and the bulldozers, with a written assurance that the university will take steps to ensure the land is registered under its name.
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What the university says
Facing pressure, the university registrar Devesh Nigam issued a statement Monday, disputing the government and TGIIC’s claims of survey and boundary demarcation. Nigam said, “No survey was conducted in July 2024 by revenue authorities in the university campus to demarcate the 400 acres of land taken by the state government in 2006 from IMG Academies Bharata.”
“Any transfer of land allocated to the university can occur with the formal concurrence of the University’s Executive Council as per Clause (ix) of Statute 13, which comprises six nominees appointed by the President of India, in the capacity of Visitor of the University,” the statement read.
Adding that the only action so far, in the university’s knowledge, has been a preliminary inspection of the land’s topography, the registrar said that the university, in its golden jubilee year, has been requesting the Telangana government for alienation of its land. “We request the government to conserve the environment and biodiversity in the area.”
What the Opposition says
On Tuesday, Telangana police detained some BJP leaders, including MLAs Payal Shankar and Dhanpal Suryanarayana Gupta, who were proceeding to the university to join the students’ protest.
The Left and Dalit-Bahujan organisations constituting the student union, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad—BJP’s student wing—are all protesting against the auction, with several other student bodies from universities, like JNU and Osmania University, extending support.
The Congress’s student wing National Students’ Union of India has taken a middle path condemning the university’s “failure in securing the land and urging discussions to ensure the title”.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Kishan Reddy, Union Minister Bandi Sanjay and Telangana BJP MPs met Union Minister for Human Resource Development Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi, urging his intervention in the matter.
The issue was also raised in the Rajya Sabha Zero Hour Tuesday by BJP MP K. Laxman.
In a series of posts on X, BRS’s K.T.R. has accused the government of “oppressing the public” and jeopardising students’ careers, while rendering even the wildlife homeless.
హైడ్రా, మూసీ పేరుతో ప్రజల ఇండ్లు – హెచ్సీయూలో పక్షుల గూళ్లు
నోరున్న జనంపైకి బుల్డోజర్ – నోరు లేని మూగజీవాల మీదకు బుల్డోజర్!
మూసీలో, హైడ్రాలో మూటల వేట – ఆఖరికి హెచ్సీయూలోనూ కాసుల వేట
పంటలు ఎండుతున్నాయి నీళ్లు లేవంటూ రైతుల గోస – అర్ధరాత్రి బుల్డోజర్ దెబ్బలకు వన్యప్రాణాల… pic.twitter.com/jvTFiO1hB4
— KTR (@KTRBRS) April 1, 2025
Alleging that the Congress government has deployed police to prevent him and other BRS leaders from visiting the university, KTR recalled that when Rahul “came to HCU twice within a month during K.C.R.’s rule, seeking justice for Rohit Vemula, he was given all security and protection”.
“Why this hypocrisy Rahul Ji? What is your Govt trying to hide from the world?” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the Telangana High Court is hearing petitions filed by environment-focused NGO Vata Foundation and retired scientist Kalapala Baburao, challenging the removal of the forest vegetation across the land in question.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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