With mining tycoon Gali Janardhan Reddy in judicial custody of the CBI over alleged large-scale illegal mining operations, the long pending demand of the Opposition parties to take back the land given to Gali brothers for setting up the Bramhani Steel plant is back to haunt the government.
Show-cause notice
It was during the budget session of the Legislative Council in March that the misuse of over 10,000 acres of land given to Bramhani Steels proposed by Mr. Janardhan Reddy and his brothers, rocked the House.
The government then said the Industries Department was in the process of issuing a show-cause notice to the company.
Fresh inquiries with the department revealed that there had been no response to the show-cause notice while they also referred the matter to the Law Department for further proceedings.
Revenue sources said that land was given to the A. P. Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) which, in turn, allotted it to the Bramhani Industries Limited for setting up a steel plant at Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district after signing an agreement with the latter.
All the lands alienated by the Revenue Department were bound by Board Standing Order 24 that the land allotted should be utilised for the purpose stated. It would empower the government to resume the land back in case of violations.
The industry department could take back the land even if it was not careful enough to include such a condition in the MoU, they said.
The New Land Allotment Policy to be announced after seeking views of all political parties in a week would, however, be fortified with all provisions to check misuse of land and take it back in case of violation of MoU and failure to execute the project within the stipulated time-frame.
It may be recalled that during the Budget session, even as the Leader of Opposition Dadi Veerabhadra Rao produced evidence to state that the company had mortgaged the land to two banks to raise Rs.450 crore but did not commence any work on the proposed steel project in violation of the agreement, both Revenue Minister Raghuveera Reddy and Industries Minister J. Geetha Reddy stoutly argued that as per their information, no land was mortgaged.
However the very next day, the Ministers had to eat their words and set the record straight to state that the land had indeed been mortgaged. They also said then the government was in the process of issuing a show cause notice to Bramhani Industries.
