5 days ago
AP high court observes incentives to IT companies should focus on employment generation over land loss
Vijayawada: The high court on Wednesday observed that giving incentives to IT companies should be seen in the broader perspective of employment generation instead of losing money on land allocations.
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The High Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Ravi Cheemalapati, observed that in the absence of incentives, companies will choose cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The bench further noted that Andhra Pradesh will remain an agrarian state without considerable investments in industry.
One N N Grace, President of the Society for Protection of Civil Properties and Environment, Visakhapatnam chapter, moved the High Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), challenging the land allotments made to Cognizant at Rs 0.99 per acre.
Jada Sravan, who argued on her behalf, said that the land allotted to Cognizant is valued at Rs 1109 crore, but the state govt allotted it for nothing. He said that the sale of land is not permissible according to APIIC rules.
Arguing on behalf of the state govt, special govt pleader S Pranati said that the land allotments have been made in accordance with the state industrial policy. She sought time to file counters in all petitions pertaining to land allotments. Considering the arguments on both sides, the High Court tagged the matter with other petitions. Similar petitions were filed earlier, challenging the land allotments to TCS and LuLu Group.
