Participants speaking at a meeting organised by Civil Society Organisations Front, opposing the land allotment to LuLu Group, in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: V. Raju
The representatives of civil society organisations criticised the Andhra Pradesh government for allotting 14 acres of prime land to the LuLu Group on a 99-year lease for the construction of a mall.
Pointing out that the said land, near R.K. Beach, is valued at ₹3,000 crore, they said the government has allocated the stretch ‘almost free of cost’.
At a meeting of the Civil Society Organisations Front at the Public Library on Tuesday (August 12, 2025), the participants alleged that several crores of rupees had changed hands in reaching the agreement.
They demanded that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance must cancel the agreement. They sought that the land should be utilised to develop a science city or science museum.
The annual lease rent was fixed at a mere 1% of the registration value. A G.O. was issued saying that the lease rent need not be paid till the construction was completed. The lease rent would be increased by 10% once every 10 years. On the contrary, the government has announced an increase in property tax for citizens by 15% every year, they pointed out.
They alleged that the government has extended all sorts of concessions to the LuLu Group. The stamp duty on registration, which amounts to ₹50 crore, has been waived off. It has been exempted from the payment of ‘NALA’ charges, amounting to ₹40 crore. The group has been exempted from payment of surcharge of ₹5 crore to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). It has been exempted from payment of GST for 10 years by which the State government would have to bear a loss of ₹50 crore each year, they said.
The plan was to construct a mall and super market on the 14 acre land near RK Beach. It would have space for the parking of 20,000 cars and 10,000 motorcycles. Four underground cellars would have been constructed, and it could pose a threat to the safety of the structure, in view of its proximity to the coastline. They alleged that the State government has ignored all these aspects and allotted the land, in violation of the guidelines.
They appealed to all citizens and people’s organisations to exert pressure on the State government for the cancellation of the allotted land.
Published – August 13, 2025 07:57 am IST
