The Chandrababu Naidu-led government, which is working on setting up a sports city on 2,500 acres in the capital Amaravati, has reportedly decided to hand over the project to the Adani group on the basis of PPP mode.
Education Minister Nara Lokesh had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jai Shah, who is the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), once in Visakhapatnam and again in Dubai regarding this matter.
Andhra Cricket Association, Vijayawada MP Kesineni Shivnath (Chinni), and Rajya Sabha member Sana Satish were also present at these meetings. The state government announced the sports city project in the capital only after Lokesh met Jai Shah. Accordingly, the government inspected lands at two places for the establishment of this project.
Initially, Chinnalanka and Pedalanka islands in the Krishna river were examined, but they were rejected as they were likely to be submerged in floods. After that, the government leaders decided to set it up in Ibrahimpatnam in NTR district, adjacent to the Krishna river. It was decided to set up this project in Trilochanapuram, Mulapadu, Kotikalapudi and Jamie Machavaram villages under Ibrahimpatnam mandal.
Everything has been prepared to acquire the necessary lands through the land acquisition process. It is reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also supporting the Sports City project in Amaravati. There is talk that the construction of the sports university, cricket stadium and several grounds will be handed over to Adani under the PPP model.
Already Adani has been involved in several sports activities of Gujarat in sports like cricket, football, basketball, tennis, skating, and swimming at several places, including a sports complex on the Sabarmati River.
A decision was taken in the CRDA meeting held last week under the auspices of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to allot 12 acres in the name of academies to badminton player Pullela Gopichand and cricketer MSK Prasad. Expecting apprehensions that allocating such a large amount of land to Adani may attract political uproar, the state government is moving cautiously and to justify their act want to show they are equally encouraging others also.