VISAKHAPATNAM: GITAM chairman and TDP leader M Sribharat on Wednesday denied allegations made by Botcha Satyanarayana over land allotment to the company owned by his family. Speaking to media persons here, he said the Municipal Administration Minister was trying to mislead people by making baseless allegations, which he said were “far from the truth”.
“The land was allotted to the company for setting up a fertiliser unit during the Kiran Kumar Reddy government and Botcha was a Cabinet minister then. The land is now under the control of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC). Besides, the land, on the border of Telangana, is almost 100 km away from Vijayawada. The project was mooted in the erstwhile united AP,” Sribharat maintained.
Stating that their family has been in the industrial sector for the last five decades, he said when it was proposed to set up a fertiliser unit by VBC Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd, the Kiran Kumar Reddy government had allotted 430 acres in survey number 93 at Jayanthipuram village in Jaggayyapeta mandal in 2012. Then the government issued three GOs.
The then district collector had recommended payment of Rs 50,000 per acre. However, the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) fixed the price at Rs 1 lakh per acre. Later, the land was transferred to the APICC by the revenue department. After the Chandrababu Naidu government took over, the price was fixed at Rs 15 lakh per acre. The project was proposed as a joint venture with the Malaysian company. However, a stay was issued on the allotment of land following a petition filed by Rakshana Steels, Sribharat said.
‘Did not pay money to govt’
“Malaysian company withdrew from the project and we did not consult the government again for land,” Sribharat said. The land was not handed over by the APIIC and there Is still stay on the allotment, he said and added that GITAM did not pay any fee to the government. “Botcha is indulging in mud-slinging even as no land was handed over to GITAM in the capital region. The lands are still under the possession of the government. The minister should check facts,” he said. Sribharat also released some documents relating to the land allotment