By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala's main opposition Congress party Sunday demanded a probe into an agreement for the Rs.15 billion Smart City project, saying the state government has signed the deal with a private firm and not the Dubai government with which the previous government had held talks.
The previous regime of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), which had conceptualised the IT city project at Kochi, had talks with Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority and had signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) with it, Congress spokesperson M.M. Hassan told reporters here.
"But the final agreement for the project was inked with Tecom Investment and Free Zone Limited Liability Company in the presence of Achuthanandan on May 13," said Hassan.
"This change took place after (Chief Minister) V.S. Achuthanandan's son V. Arunkumar visited Dubai May 7-13 and held secret discussions with the company that signed the agreement. We demand a thorough probe in the matter," he said.
The UDF had last month demanded a judicial probe into the Smart City agreement as it alleged changes had been made in the conditions applicable to the developer after the state cabinet approved it.
Ever since the agreement was inked, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Oommen Chandy has maintained that the conditions that he had put up were more favourable to the state than those in the deal signed by the present government.
Chandy had also contested Achuthanandan's statement that there were no freebies for the project.
The Congress spokesperson said: "We wish to know if the Dubai government has any stakes in the company that inked the agreement. The company with which the Chandy government had held discussions was part of the Dubai government.
"Reports indicate that the new company (with which the deal has been signed) is only a real estate firm and it has already approached European investors to raise funds for the Smart City project," said Hassan.