Andhra Pradesh’s main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has alleged that the industrial summit being organized in Visakhapatnam by the state government from Friday is not in the interest of the state but only for political gains.
The TDP also alleged that for the past four years, several industrialists have been harassed and now holding the industrial summit is only to mislead the public.
The opposition party claimed that several noted industrialists and businessmen fell victim to the corrupt practices of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. With the destructive policies and the hatred adopted by the Jagan Reddy government, not even a single industrialist has shown interest to set up units in the state for the past four years, the TDP said in a ‘fact sheet’.
Pointing out that the foundation stone has been laid for the Kadapa steel plant twice, the party mentioned that the works of the plant did not move any further. Soon after YSRCP came to power, the Mylavaram Solar Plants were attacked and the Kia management was subjected to blackmail while a conspiracy has been hatched to shut down the Amara Raja batteries.
Scared of the massive corruption, the Jockey unit migrated to the neighboring state from Rapthadu in the Ananthapur district while the Reliance Electronic Industry shifted from Tirupati to another state. The Franklin Templeton, Data Centre, Lulu, and the Titan Electrical Vehicles unit, all left Visakhapatnam, the TDP mentioned in the fact-sheet.
The Mega Seeds unit at Kurnool was totally debilitated while the Singapore-based Ankura Industries, the XLR Academics, and several other industries left Amaravathi. Similarly, Appolo Tyres, a paper pulp unit from Ramayapatnam, Best Battery unit and many such companies deserted the state.
Power holidays have been declared for companies during the YSRCP rule while power charges have been increased heavily. Industrial subsidy amounting to Rs 850 crore has not been paid and the state government has miserably failed to encourage industrialization, the party stated.
It claimed that during its regime three industrial summits have been organized at Visakhapatnam and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed for an investment of Rs 16 lakh crore to create employment for 32 lakh youth.
As the chief minister of the state, Chandrababu Naidu, visited Davos four times and attracted Rs 5 lakh crore in investments and generated employment for 5.13 lakh.
The TDP asked the Chief Minister to desist from cheating the public in the name of the Visakhapatnam summit keeping in view the coming elections and mending the ways to adopt a vengeful attitude towards industrialists. It also asked him release the dues to the companies to win their confidence.
Observing that industrialization plays a key role in the economic progress of the state, the TDP fact sheet mentioned that the businessmen who have been paying the taxes as per norms are not being given subsidies while the godowns of the YSRCP MLA, Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy, have been released the subsidy much against the norms.
The state government has miserably failed to utilize the opportunities for industrial development and harass even those who have already set up their units forcing them to desert the State. The funds for welfare and development can be generated only through industrialisation, the TDP said in the fact sheet and felt that the future generations will not excuse Jagan as he is completely destroying the sector for his political and personal gains.
