Andhra cancels land allotted to Lepakshi project

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to cancel the 8,848 acres of land allotted to the Lepakshi Knowledge Hub (LKH), which had proposed to set up a multi-sector industrial park project in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka.

“Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has directed the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) to initiate action for the cancellation process with regard to allotment of land to Lepakhshi for violation of terms of memorandum of understanding,” the chief minister's office said.

In February 2009, LKH had signed an MoU with the industries department for setting up a global knowledge hub by providing integrated infrastructure support to a range of activities, including education clusters, science and technology parks, medical, aviation and aerospace and IT parks.

 

According to the MoU, the company and the units were to invest between Rs 8,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore with a promise to create jobs for 150,000 people in a span of 5-10 years. APIIC had made available the entire land, mostly acquired from local farmers, to the company for this purpose.

The Indu group, the promoter of the project, is a Hyderabad-based real estate player. The group is already under the CBI scanner for its investments into the firms of Kadapa member of Parliament, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is being investigated for alleged quid pro quo deals involving government decisions such as these when his father, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was chief minister.

In March, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) slammed both the state government and the project developer for alleged violations in land allotment as well as its utilisation. CAG maintained the APIIC had irregularly executed a sale deed for 8,844 acres of land in Anantapur district in favour of LKH even before creation of infrastructure by the developer.