Govt extends lease of controversial land

Vijayawada: In a significant development, the State Cabinet, which met here on Saturday, decided to extend lease period from the present 33 years to 47 years of 1.93 acres of land belonging to Canal Guest House on Mahatma Gandhi Road here.

Lease of the land, reportedly owned by BJP MP Gokaraju Gangaraju, is in the eye of a storm as veterans like former minister and ex-MP Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao have been demanding that the State government take back the land from Gangaraju as he failed to develop it into a tourist attraction centre as promised by him and take up development on its own to give boost to tourism.

As per the latest Cabinet decision, Laila Hotel and Resorts has been taking up family, entertainment centre and a three-star hotel in the land.

The Cabinet decided to exempt the leaseholder till 2019 from liquidated damages. A three-star hotel worth Rs 13.41 crore in an extent of 84 cents would come up there.

Similarly, a family entertainment centre at a cost of Rs 13.41 crore in 98 cents would also be constructed.

At a press meet conducted a fortnight ago, Vadde demanded that the government cancel the lease for the land worth Rs 200 crore and build a conference hall to hold the government meetings as the government had been wasting money by organising conferences in big hotels.