APIIC land allotment allegations to LuLu Group refuted by Ganta

Refuting the Opposition’s allegations in the allotment of the APIIC land in the city to the UAE-based LuLu Group for development of an International Convention Centre, Minister for Human Resource Development Ganta Srinivasa Rao on Thursday said the decision taken in a “transparent way” would help enhance the brand name of Visakhapatnam.

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will take part in the stone-laying ceremony of the convention centre, a five-star hotel, and a shopping complex at Harbour Park on February 24, coinciding with the opening of the mega three-day CII Partnership Summit and Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Meet.

After following the due process for bidding, the government had allotted the land on lease basis for 33 years to the LuLu Group, he said. Once construction of the convention centre was over, the city would be able to host mega events, he said, and pointed how Andhra Pradesh had lost the opportunity to host the Global Entrepreneurs Summit to Hyderabad last year for want of a world-class convention centre.

At an all-party meeting here on Wednesday, the YSR Congress, the Congress, and the Left parties decided to stage a ‘maha dharna’ on Friday in front of the VUDA office, close to the summit venue, in protest against the “irregularities” in the allotment of valuable land to the LuLu Group. Accusing the Opposition of not extending its support to develop the State, the Minister said Leader of the Opposition Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, a day before the summit last year, had tried to create a ruckus at the Visakhapatnam International Airport to send a wrong message to the investors. Mr. Rao said despite his attempts, the response to the second edition of the summit had been quite encouraging.