Chandrababu Naidu moved Rs 371 cr in skill development scam: AP minister

Andhra Pradesh state Industries Minister Gudivada Amarnath hit out at Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu over the skill development "scam", claiming that the former CM "transferred Rs 371 crore" to shell companies.

"Chandrababu is sure to go to jail with respect to the Skill scam, which is the biggest Scam in the country. He transferred Rs 371 crore to shell companies in the guise of providing skill development to the youth," Industry Minister Gudivada Amarnath said.

Speaking at a press conference at the local circuit house on Tuesday evening, Minister Gudiwada said that Chandrababu has pocketed crores of public money on the pretext of providing skill development to the youth.

"He said that before the division of the state, large-scale industries were established in Hyderabad and surrounding areas, and the then Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced that he had entered into an agreement with a company called Siemens, saying that he would provide necessary skills to the youth working in those industries," he informed.

Amarnath said that Chandrababu had announced that 6 clusters are being set up for this purpose and about Rs 3,300 crore will be spent at the rate of Rs 560 crore per cluster.

Amarnath alleged that Chandrababu Naidu announced in the cabinet that if the state government would bear 10 per cent i.e. Rs 370 crore, the remaining 90 per cent would be arranged by Siemens - whose former officials are now arrested and undergoing judicial custody.

Amarnath's reaction came after four persons were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged scam.

"Also, in this scam, six shell companies such as Skiller and In Web Solutions from Singapore were shown and they said that Chandrababu Naidu and Co transferred Rs 371.25 crore to those companies. He said that Rs 185 crore were transferred in the name of Skiller Company," he alleged.

Amarnath alleged that Chandrababu Naidu, who directly contributed money from the state treasury to these companies, destroyed the key documents related to this.

"He said that the transactions related to this amount that Chandrababu Naidu had made in an illegal way came to light through a message made by a shell company created by Chandrababu, which exposed the former CM as a thief," the minister said.

"He said that Chandrababu Naidu was involved in many scams from Eleru to Hi-Tech City to Amaravati and finally it was revealed that Chandrababu Naidu was involved in the stamp papers scam as well," he added.