By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The fate of the proposed Rs.40 billion ($1 billion) Cyber City project in Kochi hangs in balance with Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan stating Wednesday that the state IT department, which he handles, has not cleared the project.
The project – promoted by the Mumbai-based Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL)- has been approved by the state Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem, who is considered to be close to Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary and Achuthanandan’s archrival Pinaryai Vijayan.
The chief minister stayed away from the foundation stone laying ceremony of the project Saturday and opposition parties led by Congress have been demanding an explanation for his absence.
“I did not attend the foundation ceremony programme because neither I nor my IT department had the details of the project,” Achuthanandan told reporters here.
When asked how the IT department of the state was not aware of the project, Achuthanadan merely said his department has not given any clearance to this project.
“There are some issues and I have now begun inquiry into the whole matter,” he said.
With the chief minister’s statement, the feud between Achuthanandan and Vijayan led factions in the CPI-M has come out in the open.
The mega project is caught in a controversy over acquisition of 70 acres of land from the public sector Hindustan Machine Tools Ltd.
The state government had given the land free of cost to HMT and hence the public sector company is not entitled to sell or lease the land without government’s approval.
The promoters say they bought the land through an open tender floated by HMT.
Meanwhile, leader of opposition Congress Oommen Chandy demanded a judicial probe into the manner that the proposed cyber city project was cleared.
“The chief minister says he knows nothing about the project and he is the same person who talks about the prevalence of a ‘land mafia’ in the state. The people of Kerala are looking forward to an answer to this land deal and Achuthanandan should order a judicial probe,” said Chandy addressing Youth Congress activists at Kozhikode Wednesday.