Reject recommendation to transfer Kineta Power to Jindal:Naidu

TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu today asked the Andhra Pradesh government not to accept the recommendation of AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation for transfer of Kineta Power Private Limited to Jindal as it was violative of relevant rules.
In a letter to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today, the Leader of Opposition in AP Assembly pointed out that Kineta was allotted 840 acres of land in Nellore district in 2008-09 for setting up a 1980 MW power plant.
The land was sold to the company for a meagre Rs 6.52 crore while the Comptroller and Auditor General pointed out that APIIC suffered a loss of Rs 1.10 lakh per acre in the deal.

"As per the agreement, Kineta was supposed to complete the project within two years from the allotment of land but even after five years, the project did not take off. As per existing rules, the APIIC should have reclaimed the land as the company failed to execute the project," Chandrababu said.
But, even as Kineta's request for extension of project duration by four years was still pending with the APIIC, the former transferred the company to Jindal in a deal running into several hundred crores.
"The transfer is against the clause 27 (1) of APIIC Allotment Regulations, 2012. But the APIIC Board recommended exemption of this clause in case of Kineta.Its a clear case of fraud on part of APIIC to recommend such an exemption," the Leader of Opposition said.

He demanded that the state government reject the APIIC's recommendation and also investigate the role of the officials concerned in the illegal deal.
"Punish the culprits without giving scope for such manipulations by APIIC in future," Chandrababu demanded.