The YSRCP government on Wednesday said that grand arrangements were being made to lay the foundation stone for a steel plant in Kadapa district on December 26 in Andhra Pradesh.
Speaking to the media after a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, Information & Public Relations (I&PR) Minister Perni Nani said that the cabinet approved land allotment for Kadapa Steel Plant that would come up between Sunnapuralla pally and Pedha Nandaluru villages in Jammalamadugu Mandal.
"The foundation stone will be laid on December 26. The state would establish AP High-Grade Steel Corporation and acquire 3,295 acres of land for the steel plant. An agreement was earlier struck with National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for the supply of iron ore," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement.
However, the only issue with the YSRCP government's announcement, is that a foundation stone for the steel plant has already been laid, by its predecessor.
Ahead of the elections, in December last year, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had ;laid the foundation stone the steel plant project in Kambaladinne in Kadapa district and said that it would be constructed across 3000 acres.
The fact that an earlier foundation stone had been laid, which the YSRCP was deciding to ignore, did not go unmissed.
When a reporter brought this to Perni Nani's notice at Wednesday's press meet, he said that the YSRCP government had nothing to do with the previous announcement, and added that they had picked a place with "suitable rail and road connectivity", and did not wish to "fool people as the former Chief Minister did."
The setting up of the Kadapa steel plant was an assurance made to the state by the Centre in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
Kadapa is Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's home district, and he had promised t set up the steel plant, during his first visit to the district after getting elected.
"I will come to Jammalamadugu again on December 26, and lay the foundation for the steel plant. Not just laying the foundation, I will ensure that the steel plant is constructed in three years and jobs are provided to 20,000 people," the Chief Minister had said at the time.