10 persons arrested in skill development scam, Naidu and Lokesh next, says Andhra Pradesh IT Minister

Minister for Industries and IT Gudivada Amarnath has alleged that former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his Chief Ministerial tenure, had siphoned off funds of ₹375 crore through a ‘questionable deal’ with the Germany-based Siemens for establishment skill centres and six skill clusters in Andhra Pradesh. “An investigation by the CID has revealed that the Design Tech System Private Limited had sent messages that two ‘tokens’ (hinting at transfer of money in two phases) were sent to Hyderabad,” the Minister said, adding that 10 persons have been arrested in the scam. “The TDP national presdent and his son N. Lokesh, the then IT Minister, are next in line,” he said.

Minister for Industries and IT Gudivada Amarnath has alleged that TDP national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his Chief Ministerial tenure, had siphoned off funds of ₹375 crore through a ‘questionable deal’ with the Germany-based Siemens for establishment skill centres and six skill clusters in Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing the media here on March 21 (Tuesday), Mr. Amarnath said that the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Corporation (APSDC) was established in 2014 with the objective of providing skill training to the youth. The then Telugu Desam government had made a bipartite agreement with Siemens to set up skill centres and skill clusters in the State at a cost of ₹3,356 crore.

It was stated in the agreement that Siemens would provide 90% of the project cost as grant-in-aid, while the State would bear the rest (10%).

Mr. Amarnath wondered as to why any private company would provide 90% of the project cost as grant-in-aid. He likened the deal to fake mails claiming that the receiver had won a Euro lottery. The gullible receiver would be made to cough up ₹1 lakh so that he could claim ₹10 crore as prize money.

He alleged that funds were diverted into shell companies based in Singapore, and later the money came back to the accounts of Mr. Naidu. “An investigation by the CID has revealed that the Design Tech System Private Limited had sent messages that two ‘tokens’ (hinting at transfer of money in two phases) were sent to Hyderabad,” the Minister said, adding that 10 persons have been arrested in the scam. “The TDP national presdent and his son N. Lokesh, the then IT Minister, are next in line,” he said.

Mr. Amarnath said that the government had written to Siemens in March 2021 and the company officials had said that there was no such scheme of ‘grant-in-aid’. “The company officials also said that the then MD of Siemens India had resigned. The forensic report has revealed that his signature was forged. Apart from the CID, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also involved in the investigation,” the Minister said.

Mr. Amarnath said that after the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) came to power, 192 skill hubs were set up, 90,000 youths were mobilised for training, and 72.5% of them were given placements during the last three years. All this had cost only ₹25 crore.