TDP leaders, kin cornered 4,070 acres in Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh FM Rajendranath Reddy.

Source – newindianexpress.com

VIJAYAWADA: Accusing TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu of resorting to real estate business in the name of constructing the capital city, Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy said 4,070 acres of land was cornered by the TDP leaders and their relatives by resorting to insider trading. He described it as only a tip of the iceberg.

Disclosing the details of what happened in the name of capital city from June 2014 during the regime of Chandrababu Naidu, Buggana said the State faced various challenges after bifurcation.
Without tabling the report painstakingly prepared by the committee headed by Sivaramakrishnan, a retired bureaucrat and expert in urban policy, though he was suffering from cancer, for discussion in the Assembly, another committee led by businessman Narayana and comprising businessmen as members, was put on the job. “By just taking the opinion of 1,400 people over telephone, and terming it as the majority, the location of the capital city was decided,” Buggana alleged.

Describing what happened in Amaravati between June 2014 and December 31, 2014, when Amaravati was declared as the new capital city as insider trading, the Finance Minister said, “After giving confusing indications that capital could be located in Guntur or Nuzvid, Chandrababu Naidu made his party leaders and those close to him buy lands in the area that would become the new capital at throwaway prices. As much as 4,070 acres of land was identified as belonging to TDP leaders and their kin in the capital region so far and more instances of insider trading could come to light.”

Showing a video clip of Amaravati map, where plots were allegedly purchased by TDP leaders and their benamis between June and December 2014, Buggana said Heritage Foods has 14.22 acres in Kanteru. He read out the names of several TDP leaders and the extent of land they bought.Questioning the need for 8,352 sqkm land for the capital city for a State with 13 districts, which, he said, was several times bigger than national capital New Delhi (1,397 sqkm), he wondered if it was for the big loot they planned.

“Who benefited from the frequent revision of the boundaries of CRDA? It was relatives of Chandrababu Naidu like MPS Rama Rao of VBC Fertilisers. Rao was allocated 499 acres of land in Jaggaiahpet. That was the reason the area was brought under the ambit of CRDA,” the minister said.

According to him, Singapore Consortium, which provided a master plan for core capital, first decided in 2015 that 391 sq km was enough, but it was reduced to 217 sq km in 2016, so as to protect the interests of the TDP men and supporters, who purchased lands, so they need not be part of land pooling, he said and added that ring road was planned in such a manner as to benefit those people.

“Even in the allocation of land, vested interests were clearly visible. While RBI and CAG were given land for Rs 4 crore per acre, the companies favoured by Chandrababu Naidu were given land for Rs 20 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per acre,” he explained.

Dismissing TDP chief’s claims that agreement with Singapore was government-to-government one as a blatant lie, Buggana read out the MoU, in which it was said signatories of agreement were private companies in Singapore.  

Flashing a copy of the agreement with the Singapore consortium, he said that though the State government invested Rs 1,200 crore, it had only 48 per cent share, while the consortium which invests Rs 300 crore would get 52 per cent. Further, the State government had to bear all responsibilities for any loans raised. “Would anyone do business for loss?” he asked.

Exposing the ‘self-finance’ plans for Amaravati, which cost Rs 1.1 lakh for the first phase (infrastructure only), Buggana said the TDP government had planned to raise it through sale of lands and loans. “Even Rs 5,600 crore spent on the project in the last five years was from the loans raised from Hudco, consortium of banks and sale of Amaravati bonds,” he said adding it would only put the State in debt burden forever.