VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday maintained that he never said the state government would bear the cost of land acquisition for the Polavaram Project or the rehabilitation and resettlement of evacuees.
The Telugu Desam Party supremo was participating in a discussion on ‘Investments, Industrial development and Employment Generation’ in the Legislative Assembly when he asserted that the Rs 33,000 crore required for land acquisition and R&R had to be borne by the Centre as the venture had been declared a national project.
Though the special package promised to Andhra Pradesh in lieu of Special Category Status includes a clause that the entire cost of the Polavaram Project would be borne by the Central government, there is no clarity on whether the expenditure on land acquisition and rehabilitation would be included in the package.
Lashing out at reports that he had agreed to bear the cost, the Chief Minister said, “When you dream, don’t dream up nonsense. One should think before speaking on such sensitive issues as it can harm the state.”