Vijayawada: While Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is trying hard to bring in investments through NRIs, the APIIC seems to be doing just the opposite.
The APIIC gave a rude shock to an NRI, who had signed an MoU with the state government to set up a table top-based solar power plant and sought to do so on Thotapalli hillock, by informing him that the hillock was given away to a mining company for gravel excavation.
Following directions from the district revenue administration, the hillock was given to a private mining company, APIIC chief general manager Prasad said.
The NRI had entered into the MoU at the Vizag partnership summit in the presence of the Mr Naidu about which the APIIC is completely unaware of.
As per communication from the APIIC, NRI’s firm Eshaan Energy was informed that the said land — RS No. 2/1, Thot-apalle Village, Agiripalli Mandal, of Krishna district — has been given by the APIIC for mining of gravel to a contractor.
Though there are five hills with much more extent than that in RS No. 2/1 and with road access, the district revenue administration directed the APIIC to suspend the proposals of Eshaan Energy, which were jointly proposed by NREDCAP and Energy departments.
RS No 2/1 is a Revenue land given in advance possession to APIIC for establishing mega food park. Later, the park venue was shifted from Thotapalli hillock to Mallavalli, of Bapulupadu mandal, due to non-feasibility, according to the report given by the Union ministry of food processing. The APIIC has been holding the land idle for years.
Eshaan Energy approached the APIIC, through NREDCAP, in May last year with a proposal to establish a solar power plant on the hilltop. NREDCAP, APSPDCL and APTRANSCO conducted a joint inspection and submitted the report to Energy department.
Interestingly, NREDCAP vice-chairman and managing director P. Kamalakar Babu was not aware of the happening, even though he was instrumental in taking forward this project. “I am astonished to note that the proposal was dropped by the district administration and APIIC,” Kamalakar Babu told this correspondent.
Principal secretary clueless about functioning of APIIC
Principal secretary (investments and energy) Ajay Jain is not aware of the recent decision of the Krishna district revenue administration to allocate the Thotapalli table top hill-ock to a private mining contractor to excavate gravel.
When Eshaan Energy CEO B. Phanich-andra met him on Thursday at the secretariat, the official interestingly asked him as to what could be done now to support the project.
Ajay Jain who was instrumental in shaping several projects was not informed by the district administration about reversing the decision of allocating the hillock to Eshaan Energy, for developing the unique solar power plant.
This is not an isolated case, there are around 20 such proposals lying idle in various phases with Energy department, APIIC and NREDCAP.
When an entrepreneur approached Endow-ments department in August 2014, and expressed his willingness to set up solar power plants on barren lands that are not yielding income to the temples and are vulnerable to encroachments by paying land lease in an open auction, there was no initiation from the government and the plan could not advance.
