April 08, 2026 | Vijayawada : The Andhra Pradesh government has withdrawn the in-principle approval granted to the LuLu Group International for the construction of a mall in Vijayawada. This case relates to the allotment of about 4.15 acres of land belonging to APSRTC in Vijayawada to Lulu Mall. The government’s decision was challenged through separate Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed before the High Court.
The petitions were filed by former minister and farmers’ leader Vadde Shobhanadreeswara Rao, Vijayawada-based advocate Ch Venkateswara Rao and Paka Satyanarayana from Visakhapatnam, among others. They questioned the legality of the government’s order allotting the RTC land to the private commercial project.
On Wednesday, the Advocate General on behalf of the Andhra Pradesh Government, submitted to Andhra Pradesh High Court , in view of the ongoing legal scrutiny of the APSRTC land allotment, the government has chosen to withdraw the in-principle approval granted to the Lulu Mall project in Vijayawada.
Petitioners called this decision a victory for democratic accountability and sent a strong message against preferential treatment to private investors at the expense of public assets.
