Kia Motors set up plant in Andhra Pradesh due to YSR, claims YSRCP

The ongoing Assembly sessions of Andhra Pradesh have been witnessing heated exchanges between the ruling YSRCP and the opposition TDP. In one such debate on Monday, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister B Rajendranath Reddy claimed that the much-talked-about Kia motors plant has been set up at Anantapur due to the late leader Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

The Minister said that the previous TDP government, led by Chandrababu Naidu, falsely claimed the investment as one of its major successes during its reign. Supporting the claim, he further read out a letter written by Han-Woo Park, President and CEO of Kia Motors to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The letter read, “The highly respected Reddy surname and your honourable position as Chief Minister of the State of Andhra Pradesh remind me of old memories dating back to around 2007, when I was leading the establishment of the Hyundai Motor R&D Centre (Hyundai Motor India (Hyundai Motor India Engineering) in Hyderabad. At that time, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, your late father and then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, who requested me to invest in an automobile factory in the State. I promised him we would do so if the Hyundai Motor Group were to have any additional investment plans in India. I firmly believe that our long standing relationship played an important role in the decision by Kia Motors, a member of the Hyundai Motor Group, to locate its first India plant in the State of Andhra Pradesh.”

The letter dated 13 June 2019 further added, “Meanwhile I have complete faith your business expertise and social awareness will contribute to accelerating economic and social development in the region, thereby honouring the legacy of your late father.”

The TDP leaders, however, denied the statements made by the YSRCP leaders and claimed that Kia Motors had invested in the state owing to their Party President Chandrababu Naidu.