Wakf refuses land for Hinduja power plant

Feb. 8: The minority welfare department has refused to allot an additional 1,000 acres of Wakf land to the Hinduja Power Project proposed to be set up near Visakhapatnam. With this, the 15-year old 1,040 MW thermal power project is likely to be delayed further.
The Hinduja group was originally allotted 1,122 acres of land by the former chief minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, at the rate of Rs 2.5 lakh per acre. But soon after that, the Hindujas submitted a request for another 1,000 acres of land for the project.
“The government survey done in 2004 concluded that nearly 5,232 acres of land in and around Pavalavasa village, Parawada Mandal in Visakhapatnam district was Wakf property,” said a senior official in the minority welfare department. “So the government informed the Hinduja group that only the Wakf Board and the minority welfare department could take a decision on the request.”
The Hindujas met the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, recently and sought his intervention to resolve the issue. But as the land belonged to the Wakf Board, the Chief Minister asked the company representatives to approach the district collector.
Sources said that even after the intervention of the collector, the Wakf Board refused to provide additional land. In this context, the Hindujas would have to either convince the minority welfare department or shift their project to some other place as all the adjoining areas of the project have been declared as Wakf lands. Officials of the energy and minority departments are now holding parleys with Wakf board members to sort out the issue.