HYDERABAD (TNN): Om City, the dream project of media baron Ramoji Rao, has received a fillip with the Telangana government deciding to allot 505 acres for the project. The Ranga Reddy district administration has sent proposals for allotting the land spread over Abdullapur, Koheda and Surmaiguda villages in Hayatnagar mandal.
Official sources in Ranga Reddy district confirmed that proposals have been sent to the revenue department for final approval. "The government will fix value for the land being allotted when approving the proposal," a senior official of the Ranga Reddy district administration told TOI.
The proposed Om City is to come up in about 2,000 acres near Ramoji Film City in Hayatnagar mandal. The chairman of Eenadu group had earlier requested that the government allot the land for the project, but revenue department officials had informed the government that a single parcel of government land of such a large size was not available in Hayatnagar mandal.
However, Ranga Reddy district officials said that they were in the process of identifying another 500 acres that can be allotted to the project. They added that Ramoji Rao had requested that the government also acquire the rest of the land for the project through negotiations with private pattadars.
The Eenadu group chairman reportedly sought land from the state government as his Ramoji Film City had previously faced criticism that part of its 2,000 acres comprised assigned land bought from farmers. If the government manages to allot the land for the project, it will become the only private project to receive such huge tract of land around Hyderabad in the recent past.
Om City has been planned as a spiritual city that will include replicas of 108 famous temples of the country. In addition, the city will also have a theme park, film theatres that screen only spiritual movies, hotels, marriage and functions halls.
Ramoji Rao, who has been working on the project for the past couple of years, met Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao this April and presented a book containing the project details. The chief minister assured all help for Om City.
Ramoji Rao had also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and presented the album on the proposed city, explaining the salient features of the proposed project to be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 3,000 crore. Once completed, it is expected to attract about Rs 2 lakh visitors every day.
The idea behind the project, according to the proposal, is to provide a single location to people where they will have the opportunity to see holy places and great temples without going around the country.
A city for spiritual needs
* Om City will come up in about 2,000 acres near Ramoji Film City in Hayatnagar mandal
* It will have replicas of 108 famous temples of the country
* The city will also have a theme park, film theatres that screen only spiritual movies, hotels, marriage and functions halls
* The proposed project expected to cost nearly Rs 3,000 crore
* As of now, the RR district administration has sent proposals to allot land spread over Abdullapur, Koheda and Surmaiguda villages
