Former minister and MLC Botsa Sathyanarayana asserted that the previous YCP government had a valid reason to stop Lalu Group from investing in Visakhapatnam. With the Lalu Group chairman Yusuf Ali, after quitting AP during YCP regime, met chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and assured to invest in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati.
In this regard, TDP leaders accused that it was due to former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s adament attitude Lalu Group after reaching MoU with the previous TDP government for investments, left the state.
However, strongly refuting TDP leaders’ accusations Botsa Satyanarayana said that their government was unable to digest the proposal of Lalu Group to invest only Rs 600 crore for getting a land worth of Rs 1,200 crore in Visakhapatnam beach area. He alleged that the land proposed by Chandrababu Naidu during his previous regime to Lalu Group costs Rs 1,200 crore.
So, he said their government questioned Lalu how if the investment amount was not half of the land value they were seeking and offered them to provide land at some other place. But, as they had insisted on the prime land only, they have canceled the project agreement. He said they offered land next to Port Hospital for Lalu Group’s proposed In-orbit Mall.
He wondered why TDP leaders are celebrating when such Group’s chairman met chief minister Chandrababu Naidu? He asserted that the entire process of land allocation was transparent during their regime, unlike undertaken by the TDP government.
The former minister alleged that privatization of Visakha Steel Plant was a conspiracy by the Central and State Governments. That is why 3,725 contract workers in the steel plant are being fired and the cards given to them are canceled, he said. He demanded that the jobs of the workers should be protected and the state government should also pressurize to this extent.
He asked the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister to stick to their word given before the election regarding the Visakha Steel Plant and rescue the fate of employees.