The story carried in the national media on Thursday that Kia Motors, one of the largest automobile companies in the world, is going to shift its India plant from Anantapur to Chennai has come as a rude shock to many.
The story sounded believable as it was written by reporters of international news agency Reuters and hence, several major national dailies carried it.
It, however, does not have any authentic quote from either government or the company, but said none of the officials could be reached for comment.
Naturally, the news report caused a lot of embarrassment to the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, which has already been accused by the national media as a villain for foreign investors because of his decision to review all the agreements signed by the previous Telugu Desam Party government.
But within hours, both the state government as well as the Kia Motors management condemned the repots. Rajath Bhargava, Special Chief Secretary, Industries, Investments and Commerce, Andhra Pradesh said, “News report of Kia Motors shifting from Andhra Pradesh is not true. KIA and the state government are working together.”
Kia Motors India head (sales and marketing) Manohar Bhatt, who spoke to a national news agency, also refuted the Reuters report.
“We were surprised to see the report. Our India plant in Anantapur is functioning exceptionally well. It is unfortunate that such worst speculations are being made when we are doing well,” he said.
Apparently, the news agency reporters were carried away by a talk doing rounds in a section of media that Kia Motors, a South Korean car manufacturer, is also planning to set up another unit in Chennai or Aurangabad for manufacturing of electric vehicles after 2025.
“But even this proposal has not been discussed yet. It is also just a speculation. It is not so easy to shift any plant from location to another location,” an official source said.
There is a suspicion that the news report was planted by some vested interests through Reuters reporters in Delhi.
One can easily guess who would be interested in planting such stories in the “national media” to malign the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
