IKEA Hyderabad Launch Hits A Roadblock

Hyderabad: Congress MLA Revanth Reddy on Tuesday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) countering the Telangana government's decision to allot 16.27 acres of land at Raidurg village in Serilingampally mandal of Ranga Reddy district, to Swedish furniture retailer Ikea India Private Limited. In the PIL, Revanth said that the State government was biased towards the multinational company in allotting such valuable land free of cost. The government allotted the land without inviting for tenders and, by allotting the land free of cost, the government has suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 500 crore, he said.

On Tuesday, a bench headed by Justice B Radhakrishnan will hear the petition in the court. The Kodangal MLA pleaded that the government broke the law by allotting land in the nomination process and that the government could have allotted the furniture store at any other location.

Revanth mentioned that according to government orders, land should be allotted only to IT companies. The public exchequer was benefitted by just Rs 33 crore from the land allotment, he said. The Congress leader requested the court to stall the business until the issue is duly investigated.

Should there be a litigation arising out of this, the much publicized and hyped launch event of Hyderabad IKEA is likely to be postponed further. The IKEA showroom is said to open on August 9.

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