Vizag MP Sribharat slams Jagan over GITAM land value claim

A social media post by former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy about the GITAM land value claim has garnered a strong reaction from Vizag Member of Parliament Sribharat, who also serves as the President of GITAM Deemed to be University. His family runs the university, which has campuses spread across Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad, and Bangalore.

YSRCP leader Jagan’s post on social media about the regularisation and alienation of 55 acres of land value claim to GITAM University in Vizag drew a reaction from MP Sribharat, who called it out, labelling it a “campaign of misinformation”. He also expressed disappointment with the factually incorrect and inflammatory information being disseminated by a former chief minister.

He countered the assertion that the 55 acres of land allocated to Gitam was valued at Rs 5,000 crore, providing numerical evidence to support his claims. He explained that the land adjacent to the Rushikonda campus had originally been designated for housing middle- to lower-income families. However, under the YSRCP administration, the land was repurposed for mixed use and subsequently divided into plots ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 square yards, which were then auctioned off. In the years 2022 and 2024, the estimated value of these lands was around Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000. Citing that in May 2024, the land plots were sold at the same reserve price of Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000.

Given that an acre equals 3,000 square yards, amounting to approximately Rs 19.5 crore, the total value of the 54.79 acres of land was Rs 1,000 crore, not Rs 5,000 crore, the MP explained.

Pointing out the loopholes in the facts, he questioned the land allotted to an international school, TISB, in 2023, stating that the 11 acres of land allotted to the school was given at Rs 1 crore per acre. He asked if land values are indeed Rs 100 crore, why was a land worth Rs 1,100 crore given for Rs 11 crore, and also expressed doubt on why there was an absence of public debate on this.

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