Amaravati: In a move aimed at speeding up tourism and infrastructure projects, the Andhra Pradesh government has allowed its departments and corporations to execute lease or sale deeds in favour of selected developers without waiting for the departments to first settle the land value payable to the government. The relaxation applies only to land that has already been allotted to the government agencies.
Issued as G.O. Ms. No. 395 on June 30, the order applies to government land allotted on or after July 1, 2024 to the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA), Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) and other government departments or corporations.
According to the government, tourism authorities informed them that they were unable to immediately pay the prescribed land value for government land already allotted to them. Since the land continued to remain under the Section 22-A prohibited list, the Registration Department could not register lease or sale deeds in favour of developers selected under the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Land Allotment Policy, delaying implementation of projects.
To address this bottleneck, the government has permitted APTA, APTDC and other government agencies to execute registrations in favour of developers selected under the applicable departmental policies, while allowing payment of the land value to the government to be completed subsequently. The Registration Department has also been directed to register such transactions by relaxing the restrictions applicable under Section 22-A of the Registration Act.
Opposition alleges misuse
The order has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition YSR Congress Party. Its newspaper Sakshi described it as another “controversial decision” by the Chandrababu Naidu government and alleged that it would enable government land to be handed over to private developers without first paying the government, raising concerns over the possible misuse of public land.
According to the report, the government has effectively allowed valuable public land to be transferred to private entities while bypassing the normal safeguards applicable to prohibited properties under Section 22-A of the Registration Act.
What the G.O. actually says
However, a reading of G.O. Ms. No. 395 suggests that the order is narrower than the interpretation presented by the opposition.
The order does not waive payment of land value, nor does it authorise the government to directly hand over land to private developers free of cost. Instead, it deals with cases where government land has already been allotted to APTA, APTDC or another government department or corporation, but the agency has not yet completed payment of the land value to the government. Because of this pending inter-government transaction, the land remains under the prohibited list, preventing registration in favour of developers selected under the relevant departmental policy.
The G.O. permits registration of lease or sale deeds in such cases pending payment of the land value by the government agency concerned, while making it clear that allotment to developers must continue to be made strictly in accordance with the AP Tourism Land Allotment Policy 2024–29 or the relevant departmental policy.
In effect, the order seeks to remove an administrative hurdle arising from delayed payment between the government and its own agencies, rather than exempting private developers from paying for land or authorising unrestricted transfer of government property.
Whether the procedural relaxation leads to faster project implementation, as the government contends, or raises transparency concerns, as alleged by the opposition, is likely to remain a subject of political debate.