Will not allow NRI businessman to withdraw from project: CM

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said the government would not allow NRI entrepreneur from the state, M A Yousuf Ali, to withdraw from the convention centre project at Bolgatty in Kochi.
"Ali's decision to withdraw from the project is not acceptable. The land at Bolgatty was handed over to him under lease as per law. This was made clear by the Port Trust Chairman," he told reporters here.
Supporting Ali's venture, Chandy said he had been in the forefront in taking the Smart City Project forward during LDF government's tenure.
"There is no mistake on the part of Ali," he said.

On CPI-M's charge that the Lulu Group had encroached on government land to set up their Mall at Kochi, Chandy said he should not be humiliated.
Angered over the the charge, Ali had announced he was withdrawing from the project, which he claimed would have given direct employment to more than 4,000 persons.
However, the Bolgatty project of the Lulu Group has also run into trouble with allegations of undervaluation of land given to the project by Cochin Port Trust.