The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday refused to issue interim orders on a petition filed by the Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL), over the cancellation of a project for the development of a deep-water port in Machilipatnam.
In its petition, NECL had asked for a stay on the cancellation and also sought orders to the state government to not entrust the work to anyone else.
Taking to Twitter, Minister of Industries, Commerce, and IT, Mekapati Goutham Reddy said that it was 'good news', adding, "Respondents are at liberty to invite fresh bids if necessary for the new port proponent."
“Machilipatnam Port”, Good News!
— Mekapati Goutham Reddy (@MekapatiGoutham) October 1, 2019
Interim orders refused. Adjourned to 25th October for final hearing. Respondents are at liberty to invite fresh bids if necessary for the new port proponent.
Satyameva Jayate! pic.twitter.com/oGY98fvoWi
The case was posted to October 25 for its final hearing.
Last month, the Andhra cabinet, in a major decision, had decided to take back 412.5 acres allotted to the Machilipatnam Port Private Limited (MPPL) for a greenfield, all-weather multi-purpose port in Machilipatnam town in Krishna district.
The YSRCP government said that it had decided to take back the land due to extreme delays in execution of the project, which was first awarded to a consortium in 2008. It also claimed that the concessionaire failed to fulfil its obligations like payment of lease rentals and achieving financial closure over the last 11 years.
It was in 2008, when Jagan's father YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the Chief Minister, that the state government had awarded the project to a consortium led by MAYTAS Infra Pvt Ltd. NECL was inducted as the lead promoter of the project in 2009.
At the time of laying of foundation stone earlier this year by former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, it was announced that that the port will be spread across 4,800 acres. The first phase with four berths was expected to be completed and operational in 18 months
IANS inputs