Andhra Pradesh government cancels agreement with Unitech, forfeits Rs 255 crore

Andhra Pradesh has cancelled an agreement with Unitech Ltd for Integrated Vizag Knowledge City project in Visakhapatnam and forfeited Rs 255 crore, the firm paid for the land, for failing to meet targets. The government has ratified the action of the APIIC(Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd) to cancel the agreement with Unitech for development of Integrated Vizag Knowledge City and forfeiture of the amounts paid by the company for non-implementation of the project, a government order said.

APIIC, in 2008, had entered into an agreement with Unitech for developing knowledge city. The project envisages creation of world-class facilities with environment-friendly buildings, star hotels, facilities for leisure tourism with international golf courses, shopping complexes and an integrated eco-friendly township on an area of 1,750 acre. However, the company paid only Rs 255 crore towards land cost against the total amount of Rs 350 crore. The company was supposed to submit a bank guarantee amounting to Rs 2,938 crore, which was also not complied with, the order said.

"Unitech Limited has violated various terms and conditions like payment of the land cost and the bank guarantee, non-implementation of the project," the order added. The company has not made any physical progress to comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement and for the execution of the project. Thus, the project was not implemented within stipulated time.

The government had earlier declined to appoint an arbitrator, as requested by Unitech, to settle the issue.