Hyderabad/New Delhi, June 24 (IANS): Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday appealed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to transfer 2,500 acres of defence land to the state government for taking up the widening of roads and other civic infrastructure development projects in Hyderabad.

During the meeting with Rajnath Singh in the national capital, Revanth Reddy brought to his notice that 2,462 acres of land, owned by the state government, was currently being used for the Imarat Research Centre (RCI) at Ravirala village.

Since the defence wing is using state lands for RCI, the Chief Minister requested Rajnath Singh to transfer 2,450 acres of land for the construction of roads, flyovers and other infrastructure in Hyderabad city as well as surrounding areas.

He urged the Defence Minister to accept the mutual transfer of lands between the state government and the Defence Department.

The Chief Minister also brought to the notice of the Defence Minister that the Union government has already sanctioned a Sainik School for Warangal but the previous state government did not take any steps for the construction of the school. He requested Rajnath Singh to renew or grant a fresh permit for the Warangal Sainik School as the permission granted earlier has expired.

MPs Mallu Ravi, R. Raghuram Reddy, Balaram Naik, Suresh Shetkar, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy, K. Raghuveer Reddy, Kadiyam Kavya and Gaddam Vamsi, Rajya Sabha member Anil Kumar Yadav, and Chief Minister's Special Secretary B. Ajith Reddy were also present.

The Chief Minister also met Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and requested him to sanction 2.70 lakh houses to the state under the BLC (Beneficiary Led Construction) model in the 2024-25 financial year.

He told Khattar that the state government decided to construct 25 lakh houses for the poor in their own habitations. A total of 15 lakh houses, out of the proposed construction of 25 lakh houses, will come under the purview of the Urban Development Department and they will be built under the BLC system.

Khattar said that the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) has been approved by the Central government and hence the funds sanctioned under it for the year 2024-25 will be enhanced. The houses which are being constructed in the state will be built according to the guidelines of PMAY-U. The Chief Minister reminded him that 1,59,372 houses have already been sanctioned to Telangana under PMAY-U and a grant of Rs 2,390.58 crores has also been announced. He said that only Rs1,605.70 crore has been released so far and requested the Union Minister for the release of pending funds immediately. The CM also appealed to Khattar to extend the deadline for the completion of the Smart City Mission till June 2025 as the works are yet to be completed and are pending at various levels.