Fake investment declarations bring no jobs, Nara Lokesh takes a dig at AP govt

Amaravati: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) general secretary Nara Lokesh on Monday said fake investments declarations will bring no jobs to the people of Andhra Pradesh. He was referring to the chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s recent announcement of investment proposals worth Rs 13 lakh crore at the Global Investors Summit (GIS).

Jagan on Friday said the state has received investment proposals worth Rs 13 lakh crore with an employment opportunity for six lakh people.

Lokesh accused the Andhra Pradesh government of deceiving the people by re-announcing old investment deals at the recently held Global Investors Summit with companies like Aurobindo, Greenko and Adani.

Speaking to the media at Vepulabayalu in Annamayya district, Lokesh said, “On forging any deal, governments openly declare all the details. During Chandrababu Naidu’s regime all information regarding investments and deals was exhibited online.”

“The YSRCP-led government is not showcasing any MoUs, agreements, deals, endorsements from the companies on documents,” Lokesh said, adding that the government and the companies have exchanged MoUs in “non-paper format only.”

He claimed that the company Indosol began with an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh but the company announced investments worth Rs 76,000 crore in the state.

“All the directors of the company are from Pulivendula,” said Lokesh about Indosol. “Jagan is offering 25,000 acres of land to this company. Another company, ACB, with a turnover of Rs 120 crores that employs 250 people has promised an investment of Rs 1.2 lakh crores. How can we believe it?” he questioned.

Speaking about the absence of Andhra Pradesh at WEF 2023 summit in Davos, he said, “Jagan conveniently missed the World Economic Forum in 2023. Can any aspiring state afford to miss a forum like WEF?”

On investment opportunities created by the TDP government, Lokesh said, “Between 2014 and 2019, we established a plethora of industries. Speaking in the Assembly, the late Mekapati Goutham Reddy said that 39,450 industries were established between 2014 and 2019 by the erstwhile TDP government, creating 5,13,350 jobs.”