Annapurna & Padmalaya Studios’ Land Misuse On Govt’s Radar

Telangana Government is examining action to be taken in the land misuse case of major movie studios Annapurna & Padmalaya in Hyderabad. The state chief commissioner of land administration S.K. Sinha is quoted to have said, “There are violations in the lands given to these studios. Some are being misused while some have been sold.”. In February last, Hyderabad District Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena notified the department of land administration a series of violations in land allotments with regard to the purposes they are being used for. Now the department finalized it’s findings and the Commissioner’s comments triggered speculation that an action by the Govt. against the studio managements is in the offing.

If the precedent set by the Govt in Gurukul lands is to be followed, large scale confiscation of vacant and leased properties of these studios could happen. The lands were originally garnted to veteran film actors, G. Krishna and the late Akkineni Nageswara Rao for them to develop infrastructure for developing film industry, like film studios. However, the film actors didn’t limit the usage for studios but commercial ventures. Padmalaya Studios in Filmnagar infact sold part of the their 9.518 acre land to private parties, including Zee Telefilms Ltd. Some other portions were distributed to family members by actor Krishna. The studio is part of the 9.518 acres of land in Shaikpet mandal given by the then Govt. way back in 1982 at a throwaway price of Rs 8,500 per acre, when the market price of the land at that time was approximately Rs 5 lakh per acre. 

This 9.5 acres was part of the 50-acre land that was given by the Chenna Reddy government to the Telugu film industry to attract them from the then Madras. Another beneficiary is Actor Akkineni Nageshwar Rao and his Annapurna Studios. Part of Annapurna Studio land is leased to private companies, including Reliance. If action is taken against these biggies, misuse of other smaller tracts of land could crop up as well, like the one from Film director K Raghavendra Rao, who built a multiplex in land allotted to him. There could be more clarity on the course of action in next few days.

Before the formation of Telangana, the present IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao and irrigation minister T. Harish Rao, staged protests against giving back land to these studios, when it was taken over by the past government for using it for purposes other than it was granted for.