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The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, with Volkswagen goodwill ambassador, Mr Frank Elbe, in Hyderabad. — H. Satish

Hyderabad , Sept. 6

, A HIGH-POWERED team from Andhra Pradesh Government is set to visit Wolfsberg, the headquarters of the German automotive giant, Volkswagen AG, later this month to hold parleys for the proposed car plant in the State.

Announcing this here today, the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, after discussions with the emissary of the German company, Mr Frank Elbe, said that the State had rejected the demand draft of Rs 11.67 crore sent by Volkswagen.

Mr Elbe, who was here to hand over a demand draft from the Volkswagen management, was told that the matter was under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, and it would not be appropriate to take the draft from the company.

Mr Elbe said, "I came here to hand over the cheque covering damage the Government had suffered by paying Rs 11.67 crore to a company, which turned out to be fake. In a noble gesture, the Chief Minister refused to accept the cheque on the ground that CBI is investigating and part of the money has been recovered. He said that recovery of the rest of the money is under process."

The German emissary said, "Dr Reddy expressed happiness over my visit and the gesture of Volkswagen for accepting moral responsibility for the loss to the State. We extended an invitation to the State Government to depute a team to visit Germany on September 28."

Dr Reddy, later speaking to newspersons, said, "We are keen to ensure that the project is located in the State. I was never in doubt that the money would find its way back to the State. Since the CBI is seized with the matter, it needs to track the people responsible for the whole scam be it officials, politicians or others responsible. The entire air surrounding this needs to be cleared."

As suggested, a team from AP will visit Wolfsberg later this month, Dr Reddy said.

This amount was deposited as equity share capital by the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) on behalf of the State Government in Vashista Wahan, a special purpose vehicle created at the behest of Dr Helmuth Schuster, the then country head of Volkswagen project in India.

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