Andhra minister regrets treatment meted to Amara Raja Group during previous YSRCP rule

Amaravati, Jul 16 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Thursday expressed regret over the treatment meted out to Amara Raja Group during the previous YSRCP government, saying that the state lost a historic industrial opportunity due to the "harassment and intimidation" faced by one of its most respected home-grown enterprises. Reacting to the inauguration of Amara Raja's new Customer Qualification Plant at the Divitipalli Giga Corridor in Telangana's Mahabubnagar district, Lokesh said Andhra Pradesh owed an apology to Amara Raja chairman Galla Jayadev and his family. "Over four decades, Amara Raja has been more than just one of Andhra Pradesh's greatest industrial success stories. It has created world-class manufacturing, generated thousands of jobs, and carried the name of Chittoor and Andhra Pradesh across India and the world," Lokesh said in a post on 'X'. "The harassment your company endured under the previous government should never have happened. An entrepreneur who chose to build in his home state deserved encouragement, not intimidation," he said in an official release. Lokesh said it was painful that a company born in Andhra Pradesh had to look beyond the state's borders for its next chapter of growth. However, he expressed hope that Amara Raja's biggest chapters would still be written in the state where its journey began. "As we rebuild trust, Andhra Pradesh is once again open for enterprise. We hope Amara Raja's biggest chapters will still be written in the state where its journey began. Our doors, and our hearts, will always remain open," he said. During the YSRCP regime, the company found itself at the centre of a vindictive confrontation with the state government because its chairman, Jayadev, was a prominent TDP Member of Parliament, the release said. Jayadev had represented Guntur Parliament constituency from TDP earlier. "The previous YSRCP government, which was often accused of adopting a vindictive approach towards investors and businesses, moved to reclaim nearly 253 acres of industrial land allotted to the company and later initiated a series of actions against its manufacturing units," the release said. The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board's closure notices to Amara Raja's flagship battery plants in Chittoor attracted national attention, it said. Reports also surfaced of disruptions to power and water supply to the company's facilities, even as legal proceedings were underway, the release said. "Faced with an increasingly uncertain business environment, Amara Raja eventually shifted its ambitious Rs 9,500-crore lithium-ion Giga Corridor project to neighbouring Telangana," it said. The inauguration of the Customer Qualification Plant at the Divitipalli Giga Corridor marks a major milestone in that project and serves as a reminder of the opportunity Andhra Pradesh lost, the release said. The project is expected to generate thousands of jobs and substantial tax revenues in Telangana, it said, adding that these jobs could have transformed the lives of thousands of young people in Chittoor and the revenues that could have strengthened Andhra Pradesh's economy have instead gone to the neighbouring state because of the vileness of the YSRCP regime, the release said. Lokesh's remarks once again brought into focus the industrial setbacks faced by the state under YSRCP, the release said, and highlighted the current NDA government's commitment to restoring investor confidence and positioning the state once again as a preferred destination for investments. PTI STH KH