Jagan Alleges Coalition Government Is Turning Ramayapatnam Port Into a ‘Major Scam’

YSR Congress Party president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the ruling TDP-led coalition government, alleging that the prestigious Ramayapatnam Port project, envisioned as a key driver of the state's economic growth, is being converted into a major financial scam for the benefit of private interests.

In a detailed post on X, Jagan said that after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, port-led development became essential for accelerating industrialisation and attracting investments. Keeping this objective in mind, the previous YSRCP government had fast-tracked the development of Ramayapatnam, Machilipatnam and Mulapeta ports , he said. According to Jagan, his administration completed land acquisition, secured all statutory approvals, achieved financial closure and awarded EPC contracts for the projects, enabling substantial progress by June 2024 .

Highlighting the strategic importance of Ramayapatnam Port, Jagan said the project had already attracted major industrial investments. He noted that BPCL is establishing a greenfield refinery and petrochemical complex with investments exceeding ₹1 lakh crore and a capacity of 9–12 MMTPA. He also pointed to investments by Indosol Solar , which is setting up a fully integrated “Quartz-to-Module” manufacturing facility that would depend on the port for importing raw materials and exporting finished solar modules.

The former Chief Minister further stated that JSW Steel is developing two berths at Ramayapatnam Port to support the integrated steel plant being set up in YSR Kadapa district . These projects, he said, are expected to generate thousands of jobs while significantly increasing the state's tax and non-tax revenues.

Jagan alleged that despite the state's investment of ₹4,929 crore in developing the port, the coalition government was preparing to hand over the asset to private entities for an advance payment of only ₹1,500 crore . He claimed that while private operators would gain control of the port, the state would continue to bear more than ₹3,500 crore in debt and interest liabilities , causing a substantial loss to the public exchequer.

Questioning the government's financial approach, Jagan asked whether such an arrangement could be justified as sound economic management and demanded greater transparency regarding the future of the strategically important port project.