VIJAYAWADA: After acquiring the 30-acre land belonging to APSRTC at Gannavaram recently, the state government is now eyeing a parcel of land belonging to the electricity department at Gunadala and hand over the land to private parties.Sources said a five-star hotel and other facilities are being planned on the piece of land. What more, the authorities are looking at a 99-year lease. APTDC officials conducted a survey in the city recently and identified five acres of land at Gunadala. Chief secretary Ajeya Kallam is believed to have asked the officials to work out modalities on transferring the electricity department land on to APTDC.As per the revenue records, the electricity department owns 25 acres of land in 18 survey nos in Gunadala where some offices are functioning. The APSEB engineers association said the government should instead allot the land for shifting the offices of electricity companies from Hyderabad to Vijayawada. "The government should allot land to cater to the growing requirements instead of taking the land from the department," said M Vedavyasa Rao , secretary general, engineers association.Taking objection to handing over the land to private players, former IAS officer EAS Sarma wrote a letter to Kallam saying that such a move will benefit private parties. "In the name of developing tourism, the government is taking over five acres of electricity department. This proposal will benefit those close to the political leadership," said Sarma. He said that handing over lands belonging to electric department and RTC to private players is illegal .

Stay updated with all the Latest Vijayawada headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.