AP Allocates Rs 250 Crore For Agrigold Depositors

The Andhra Pradesh (AP) Cabinet took a decision on Monday to allot Rs 250 cr. to arrange payments to depositors having deposits below Rs 10,000 with Agrigold, a Vijayawada-company caught up in a Rs 6,700-crore financial scam since 2014.

The matter is pending in the AP High Court. The AP High Court, even before bifurcation of the court, directed the AP Government to auction off Agrigold's assets and arrange payments to depositors. But due to various reasons it is getting delayed and the AP Government is under great pressure and under attack from the Opposition YSR Congress, Janasena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The opposition parties have alleged the involvement of some Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders in the scam.

The company which started operations in 1995 collected deposits from AP mainly and also Telangana, Karnataka, Punjab, Chattisgarh and other states as well. The majority of the depositors are from AP (19 lakhs) out of a total of 32-33 lakhs. It is estimated that four to five lakh depositors may be from Telangana.

The officials completed scrutiny of 8,732 depositors so far in the State and they will get back the amounts, if the deposit amount is less than Rs 10,000. Most of the assets of the company are in Andhra Pradesh and a few in Telangana and other states as well.

The opposition parties alleged in the past that the company had very valuable assets, probably worth more than its deposits of Rs 6,700 crores or so, and the TDP leaders were eyeing those prime properties in the vicinity of the new capital, Amaravati.

Opposition YSR Congress leader even named some of the TDP leaders in the Assembly and sought a judicial probe into the matter. After the split with the TDP, the local BJP leaders have also stepped up the pressure on the TDP Government.

It resulted in the state government finally taking some action in the matter to provide some relief to the small depositors.