Hindujas get Rs 120-crore waiver from Andhra Pradesh govt

The Andhra Pradesh government appears to be going out of its way to grant multiple concessions to multinational Hinduja Group for setting up a 1,040-MW coal-fired thermal power plant at Devada village in Visakhapatnam district. Shockingly, the waivers have been given despite strident protests against the project by locals, environmentalists as well as political parties.

The government recently waived vacant land tax and property tax to the tune of Rs 120 crore out of the Rs 171-crore levy that had originally been imposed on Hinduja National Power Corporation Limited (HNPCL) by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).

But the company allegedly lobbied with the government for a total exemption. "They just sent a demand draft of Rs 19 lakh while making a fresh application," GVMC commissioner B Ramanjaneyulu said, adding that the amount would not be accepted till the entire Rs 51 crore was paid.

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The levy was slapped on Hinduja corporation because it had not initiated the project even 12 years after being allotted 1,122.38 acres in the area. The project cost, according to current estimates, is said to be around Rs 5,000 crore. "The Hindujas have used their clout with state government officials to get the concession," a source said.

All efforts by Mail Today to contact the Hinduja corporation spokespersons proved futile. However, HNPCL, in its website, claimed that it was constructing the plant in the non-coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) area, which is around 622 acres. According to it, the CRZ area covered by the plant would be only around 500 acres and not 733 acres as claimed by environmentalists.

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"To meet the additional requirement, HNPCL has purchased 330 acres of additional non-CRZ land adjacent to the land procured earlier. The total area proposed to be used for power plant construction, therefore, is 952.38 acres out of which 220 acres are earmarked for an ash pond," the company website stated.

However, former Union energy secretary and environmentalist Dr E. A. S. Sarma - who has been spearheading the agitation against the project - said out of the 1122.38 acres given to the Hindujas, about 733 acres fell under CRZ III, where construction activity was prohibited. "The Hindujas have taken up construction work in violation of the conditions stipulated by the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) in the clearance granted to the company," he alleged.

Sarma said when the project got the environmental nod from the MOEF for the first time on September 3, 1996, there was no mention of the CRZ issue. "The clearance lapsed in 2001," he said.

"Six years later, the Hindujas applied for 'revalidation' of the environmental clearance on the ground that they had already taken up some construction work in 1999. In March 2009, the MOEF revived the environmental clearance despite our strong objections," Sarma added.

This time, however, the clearance specifically mentioned that the Hindujas should not take up any construction work in the CRZ. "Yet the area is still under the control of the company," he said.

Sarma also added the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board had not issued any consent for establishment (CFE) for the project as required under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. But the plant started construction activity recently.

In addition to this, the GVMC authorities were under pressure to grant a noobjection certificate to the corporation for proceeding with the construction work without undertaking the mandatory public hearing. A committee of the GVMC officials and public representatives, which paid a visit to the project site on Saturday, met with stiff resistance from locals belonging to villages such as Devada, Paravada, Appikonda and Palavalasa.

The municipal commissioner had to assure them that the government would soon conduct the public hearing again and address all their concerns, including those pertaining to displacement and payment of compensation. The Opposition parties, led by CPM floor leader G. Eshwaramma, contended that the project should not get a green light till a relief and rehabilitation package is announced.