Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government issued orders allotting 13.74 acres of land of the APIIC in Harbour Park, Beach Road, Visakhapatnam, on a 99-year lease to LuLu International group of shopping malls.Lulu aims at development of a mega shopping mall spread over 13.5 lakh sq-ft there. Also, in-principle approval has been granted for allotment of 4.15 acres to Lulu in Vijayawada, which is also on lease basis for development of a shopping mall admeasuring 2.32 lakh sq-ft.Secretary to the industries and commerce department, N Yuvaraj, issued GO-Ms-137 on Sunday to these effects. The order stated that the government has asked the VMRDA to transfer the possession of the 13.43 acres of Harbour Park Lands in Visakhapatnam back to APIIC, authorise the APIIC to evaluate the proposal of Lulu group, and finalise the deal with the approval of the competent authority. The MD of APIIC was instructed to examine all the court cases on the land and comprehensively examine the proposal of the Lulu Group and obtain the approval of the competent authority for early implementation of the project. The allotment of lands in Visakhapatnam is on a 99-year lease basis with a rent-free period of three years or till the date of opening of the shopping mall, whichever is earlier, the GO said. Regarding the land allotment to Lulu in Vijayawada, the land extent is 4.15 acres for a 65-year lease, which is extendable for another 33 years. The rent-free period is 3 years or till the date of opening of the shopping mall, whichever is earlier. The APIIC will adopt the land leasing model as per the “AP Tourism Land Allotment Policy 2024–2029” for pricing the land, duly considering the request of a 3-year lease-free period for implementation of the project, as a special case. The order advised the transport department and APSRTC to examine and transfer the existing structure on the lands to the alternative lands identified by the district collector. The revenue department and the district collector are instructed to hand over the alternative lands to the APSRTC, duly handing over the lands for the project to the tourism department, the GO added.
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