Leading manufacturer Kia Motors has dropped its proposal to set up a plant in Tamil Nadu due to corruption, an industrialist's recent Facebook post claims.

Kannan Ramasamy, Managing Director of Infratech Infrastructures Services Private Limited, wrote that his client - the South Korea-based Kia motors - wanted to set up a plant in Tamil Nadu to make compact sedans and SUVs.

But when they approached the Tamil Nadu government for acquiring land, politicians demanded 50 percent more than the official cost as a bribe, he claimed in his post.

Kia motors eventually moved to Andhra Pradesh, he said.

'I HANG MY HEAD IN SHAME'

"TN has not only lost the 1.1. Billion USD from Kia but also the allied ancillary investments of more than the Kia figure. More than that, huge employment opportunity is lost for the TN Youth and auto professionals. I hang my head in shame. Let God help TN to spring back." Ramasamy wrote in his post

When India Today contacted Kannan Ramasamy, he didn't want to say anything more than he already had in his Facebook post.

SR Vijayakumar, the Central Chennai MP of the AIADMK, said, "That's all false. Every minister is touring the entire state. They are doing all work for that particular department. Everything is being done by conducting meetings for that particular department. We are asking about the problems of people in each district and trying to solve it. We are giving schemes for the people. The government is functioning well. Opposition is trying to create a problem."

TAMIL NADU 3RD MOST CORRUPT STATE

The Centre for Media Studies (CMS), which recently released its survey on corruption, ranked Tamil Nadu as the third most corrupt state in the country.

The CMS India Corruption study 2017 has pointed out that 68 percent of respondents in Tamil Nadu felt that they had trouble accessing public services due to corruption.

During a global investors' meet, investors had said they weren't able to come to Tamil Nadu due to the high level of corruption, said Jayaraman, the coordinator of Arappor Iyakkam - an organisation that has been fighting graft.

"There is a lot of centralised corruption. It's there right at the top....recently, there was a raid at (Tamil Nadu minister) Vijayabhaskar's residence. With the recent RK Nagar money distribution, it's clear that all the money is coming from the ministers. Tamil Nadu is in a very pathetic state. The complaints are not being taken. The complaint we gave against Ram Mohan Rao has not been taken. No action has been taken," he said.

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