1,750 acres remain unused

The then government in 2007 allotted 1,750 acres at a throwaway price in Kapuluppada to Unitech to develop an integrated knowledge city. The allotment ran into a legal dispute between both Unitech and APIIC, leaving the land unused since then.

After the Unitech Ltd was accused in 2G spectrum scam, fearing attachment of its properties by the Enforcement Directorate, APIIC cancelled its agreement with the infrastructure giant. APIIC also cited another reason of non-grounding the project for cancellation of allotment.

Challenging the cancellation of allotment Unitech approached High Court in 2011. In September 2007, the APIIC had finalised the bid submitted by Unitech Ltd for development of the integrated knowledge city. The firm quoted Rs 3,288 crore as the highest guaranteed amount for 10 years for the state government and 1,750 acres of land was allotted at a price of Rs 20 lakh per acre.

As per the proposals Unitech was to construct residential apartments, villas, hotels, townships and 18 holes golf course. It also paid only Rs 225 crore for the land without paying the to-tal amount until the APIIC cancelled the allotment.

“Government should come out with an exit policy for the companies if they feel the project is not viable. In this case, APIIC should act fast and open all the arbitrary channels or other all possible legal ways to end the dispute so that such a valuable land can be utilised for some other purpose,” observed Vizag Development Council, vice-president, O. Naresh Kumar.