With Telugu Desam Party led by N Chandrababu Naidu back to power in Andhra Pradesh, he has started inviting all those big business houses and other prominent investors, who had withdrawn their plans during the Jagan Mohan Reddy regime, to return to the state with fresh investments.
One of these prominent investors is UAE-based LuLu Group.
In 2018, the group laid foundation stone for the ambitious project with an investment of Rs 2,200 crore comprising an international convention centre, multiplex and a five-star hotel in an area of 13.59 acres with the panoramic beachfront view.
After Jagan came to power and cancelled the agreement, the LuLu Group announced that they would not invest in any project in Andhra Pradesh under the ‘present dispensation.’
At the time of cancellation, then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had alleged that the TDP Government gave the land to LuLu Group at just Rs 4 lakh per acre when the market price of the entire parcel of land in the APIIC Harbour Park was estimated at around Rs 700 crore.
Later the YSRCP regime tried to auction the land in question through NBCC at an upset price of Rs 107 crore per acre.
When this attempt failed, another exercise was undertaken by transferring the land possession from APIIC to Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) to sell it.
With NDA forming the government, Naidu at a high-level meeting at Amaravati directed the officials to find out how to improve the investors’ confidence and bring back those investments, which did not materialise due to the policies adopted by the erstwhile YSRCP government.
Now, there is hectic speculation that Naidu is planning to invite the group again and ask it to reconsider their investment plan finalised in 2018.