Land allotments by the Andhra Pradesh Government to various information technology companies and projects have come under the scrutiny of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
In the voluminous reports submitted to the Assembly, the CAG has observed non-utilisation and diversion of land allotted to various firms in the Hardware Park at Maheshwaram in Ranga Reddy district.
Of the 615 acres allotted to 58 firms in the park in the last 11 years, 329 acres allotted to 36 units were left unutilised.
The CAG has blamed the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation for not taking action on the firms for not meeting the deadlines.
It has also noted large-scale non-utilisation of land in allocations off the park. Prominent among them are Amazon and Georgia Institute of Technology (both US-based entities).
While it noted that Amazon could not utilise the 10.5 acres allotted to it at Nanakramguda because of a court case, GIT had neither paid the money, nor it had utilised the land as of November 2011.
Govt response
Commenting on the issue, a senior official of Ministry Information Technology has said that the onus is on the Government to clear the land for Amazon.
“Since we allocated the land, it is our responsibility to ensure steer the land clear of all disputes,’’ he said, when asked about non-utilisation of land by Amazon in Hyderabad. Amazon was allotted land as early as 2006 for its expansion.