Andhra to review all major projects since '03

Nearly 22 mega projects, dozen core sector works under lens

In a major administrative decision, on expected lines though, the state government led by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has ordered the review of all decisions after January 1, 2003 on all mega projects and infrastructure projects taken by the previous Chandrababu Naidu regime. The entire exercise will be completed in a six-week schedule.

The government has constituted a 'Group of Ministers' to undertake this first ever major scanning exercise in the state with regard to decisions taken in the immediate past.

In fact, the government's order (GO) issued in this regard covers issues like PPAs of private power projects which were effected much before the above cut off date.

So all those issues which were on the Congress party's agenda when it was in the opposition, are also expected to come under the government's lens.

According to sources, about 22 mega projects and a dozen infrastructure projects are expected to come under the government's scrutiny. These include IT, airport and port projects besides the proposals like the Volkswagen plant.

The Congress government has already made known its contempt for the Naidu government's last minute orders pertaining to the IMG sports infrastructure project.

In his orders, issued on June 21, Andhra Pradesh chief secretary Mohan Kanda directed all the departments of the Secretariat to circulate all files which require a review of all decisions taken after January 1, 2003, on all mega projects, all infrastructure projects, allotment of land of more than five acres, and on matters which attracted large-scale public criticism.

A great sense of urgency and priority has been attached to this exercise and is clearly evident as the government directed the Group of Ministers to submit a report to the chief minister within two weeks on such cases which are considered as urgent from the point of view of finance, legal, administration and operational.

With regards to all the other cases, the Group of Ministers will have to submit a separate report after review thereon within six weeks to the chief minister.

The government's decision, which has more political overtones than any strong intention of a complete reversal of earlier decisions except on some, is expected to send shock waves across the industry.

"The review is needed for the new government to at least understand certain decisions taken by the Naidu government, obviously some of them were taken in great haste, and also to comprehend the real considerations behind those decisions," a senior officer observed.

Besides the recent decisions on mega and infrastructure projects, chief minister Rajasekhara Reddy is also very keen to review the land allotments since the previous regime was viewed as very liberal in giving away government land to private parties. The new government has already revealed its intentions with regard to the review of PPAs of four private power projects.

The Group of Ministers is constituted with five ministers. They are finance minister K Rosaiah, minister for roads and buildings J Rammohan Rao, revenue minister D Prasada Rao, minister for major industries D Satyanarayana and tourism minister J Geeta Reddy.

A K Parida, principal secretary of the planning department was appointed as the convener of the Group of Ministers.

According to the above orders, A K Parida, after due process, will prepare review reports and submit them directly to the chief minister, which is a significant departure from usual practice.