Division of assets of Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi between the two successor Telugu States Telangana and Andhra Pradesh appear to be heading for a resolution.
The high-power committee comprising engineers-in-chief of Roads and Buildings departments, resident commissioners and state reorganisation secretaries of the two States is likely to meet soon to work out modalities pertaining to the division of assets pertaining to the AP Bhavan situated in the heart of the national capital. A decision to this effect was reportedly conveyed to the Union Home Ministry by Telangana during the virtual meeting convened by the latter to discuss the pending bifurcation issues between the two States.
The development follows the two proposals submitted by Andhra Pradesh over division of the assets of the prime property between the two States. According to the proposals submitted by the AP Government, it would get 11.32-acre land and Telangana would get 8.41-acre land if the property was divided in the ratio of 58:42. The 20-acre site with several buildings is valued at ₹7,110 crore and the share of AP’s land would be ₹4,146 crore while that of Telangana would be ₹2,963 crore.
Telangana officials are, however, understood to have insisted on physical verification of AP Bhavan properties because Pataudi House and Nursing College premises which are part of the property lay scattered and located at different places. It was therefore decided to conduct physical verification of the extent of the property to understand the situation on ground before forwarding the options from the State’s side. “We have prepared two or three options and will finalise them after physical verification,” a senior official said.
Ministry of Home Affairs joint secretary Ashish Kumar presided over the more-than-one-hour meeting in which division of schedule IX institutions, apportionment of AP Heavy Machinery Equipment Limited and power dues between the two States also figured. Interestingly, the division of APHMEL figured in the meeting in spite of Telangana Government’s objection that the unit belonged to the Singareni Collieries Limited which solely belonged to the State as it had no operational jurisdiction in the neighbouring State.
