YSR Congress party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday lashed out at the Telugu Desam Party-led coalition government for allotting lands to private parties for pittance in the name of industrial incentives.
“I don’t know whether one can buy a chocolate for one rupee anywhere in the country, but in Andhra Pradesh, one can get land worth hundreds of crores of rupees for just 99 paise per acre on the pretext of setting up an industry,” Jagan said in a party meeting.
He alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu government was allotting lands to its favourite industrialists at just 99 paise per acre.
“Valuable public land is being handed over at throwaway prices,” he said.
The YSRCP chief also described Amaravati as a money-spinning venture for Naidu. He alleged that crores of rupees were being swindled in the form of kickbacks from contractors who were awarded projects worth thousands of crores.
The Andhra Pradesh government has been defending the move to allot land at a nominal rate to the industries as part of its broader strategy to attract investments into the state, especially in the IT and electronics sectors.
As part of this initiative, the government has already allotted 21.16 acres to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in Visakhapatnam and 21.31 acres to Cognizant in Visakhapatnam at a token price of 99 paise per acre.
The state government believes that such incentives will help draw major technology companies to Andhra Pradesh and generate employment and livelihood opportunities for the youth. It is also hoping to accelerate the growth of the IT ecosystem in the state through these incentives.
The land allotment scheme is being implemented under the AP Land Incentive for Tech Hub (LIFT) 4.0 Policy. Under this policy, eligible IT and electronics firms investing in Andhra Pradesh are offered land at the concessional rate of 99 paise per acre.
However, the scheme comes with conditions. Companies receiving land must begin construction after obtaining the required approvals within the stipulated time. If they fail to do so, the government has reserved the right to resume the land.
