Naidu to Jagan: Clarify handing over Machilipatnam port

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Monday demanded the YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led government to clarify whether it has handed over the Machilipatnam port under the geographical area of the state to Telangana government through a secret government order RT 62 on 28 June. Naidu alleged that the GO issued days into taking over as CM of the state has been kept away from the gaze of public view.

Naidu through a tweet has alleged that the state government has not stopped the movement of the file despite the allegations being refuted by the state Industries and Commerce Minister M Goutham Reddy on the floor of the house, a few days ago. “Government will execute the project if no private developer comes forward’” Reddy said. The minister said this in response to a social media campaign by the TDP that the GO was issued handing over the port which was once acted as a port for the landlocked Nizam’s Deccan province.

“When the question of giving away Machilipatnam port to KCR came up, the government said no in the Assembly. But we are sure about the offer. We can’t sit and watch the Jaganmohan Reddy government giving away the future for which I laid the foundation. Ports are a boon to the coastal state of AP and we can’t let Jagan give them away as a thanksgiving to KCR,” Naidu tweeted. Naidu reminded that he launched Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in 2017 to oversee the development of a deepwater port and allied infrastructure in the coastal city also known as Bandar.

Naidu fired the fresh also after Goutham Reddy replied to a query in Assembly that 3,983 acres of private and public land has been acquired for the project so far and the development of the port has will be undertaken under PPP mode.

On 7 February this year, Nara Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation for the port in Machilipatnam the headquarters of Krishna district. Navayuga Engineering Company which as developed Krishnapatnam port in Nellore district was to take up the port work. “The Port will not only serve the interests of the state but also landlocked Telangana and parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra,” Naidu said at the time of the ceremony. It is estimated that the port and park would lead to 80,000 direct and indirect employments.