Jana Sena Leader Alleges Rs 100-Crore GVMC Tax Concession Scam

Visakhapatnam: Jana Sena leader Pithala Murthy Yadav has alleged that senior officials of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) gave excessive tax privileges worth Rs 100 billion to NCC Vizag Urban Infrastructure Limited in collusion with former YSRC minister Kottu Satyanarayana’s family.

Murthy Yadav, in his complaint submitted to the district collector through the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS), alleged irregularities in the collection of NALA tax, External Development Duties (EDC) and Vacant Land Tax (VLT) on 97.30 acres of government land registered in favor of Vizag Urban Infrastructure Limited in October 2021.

He alleged that GVMC officials deliberately delayed tax assessments, exempted three semi-annual dues amounting to Rs 16.78 billion and later divided the land into two plots to hide the arrears.

According to the complaint, the six-month VLT for the entire land parcel was fixed at Rs 5.59 crore, but the authorities allegedly divided the liability and collected tax of only Rs 1.80 crore for 46 acres of land. Murthy Yadav claimed that this reduced the market value of the land by Rs 107 crore, leading to an annual tax loss of Rs 2 crore. He claimed that the unpaid dues reached nearly Rs 39 billion.

It demanded cancellation of land allotment, recovery of pending taxes and a thorough investigation into the alleged irregularities.

Murthy Yadav also alleged that the previous YSRC government had enabled Transferable Development Rights (TDRs) worth hundreds of millions by including non-existing Master Plan roads in the project scheme. He also alleged that the construction of 174 villas had started without GVMC approval, in violation of Supreme Court orders on protection of water bodies.

Terming it a “massive scam”, he urged the NDA coalition government to cancel the permits, recover public revenue and undertake the housing project directly.