IRBEPL bought 25 bonds worth `1 cr each in July 2023
ORR Maintenance Contract Fallout: IRB Expressway's Electoral Bond Donation Triggers Probe. (DC File Image)
HYDERABAD: IRB Expressway Private Limited (IRBEPL), which obtained the contract for the Outer Ring Road (ORR) maintenance and operation from the then BRS government, has donated Rs 25 crore in electoral bonds to the party, data released by the Election Commission of India show.
IRBEPL purchased 25 bonds worth Rs 1 crore each on July 4, 2023, and which the BRS encashed on July 13, 2023.
Two months earlier, in April 2023, the BRS government, following a global tender floated by the HMDA, selected the company to toll, operate and transfer the 1,264 lane-kilometre long ORR for 30 years for an upfront consideration of Rs 7,380 crore. IRBEPL started collecting fees from August.
Days later, TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy had strongly opposed handing over of the contract to IRBEPL, and accused the BRS of huge corruption in the ORR toll tenders. He had termed the tendering process a “big scam” and said that the government stood to lose Rs 22,620 crore in the deal.
The then HMDA commissioner Arvind Kumar issued legal notices to Revanth Reddy for levelling corruption charges against him, which led to Revanth Reddy accusing him of acting as a politician and not as an IAS officer.
Revanth Reddy had alleged that Arvind Kumar did not provide the information he had sought under the Right to Information Act on the ORR toll tender. After Revanth Reddy assumed office as the Chief Minister on December 7, 2023, he shunted Arvind Kumar from the MA&UD department and HMDA within 10 days and posted him to disaster management.
Revanth Reddy also reviewed the ORR contract and directed HMDA commissioner Amrapali Kata to look into irregularities and submit a detailed report. Based on the report, the government is likely to call for a CBI probe.
Among other donors to the BRS, Tellapur Technocity Private Limited gave Rs 20 crore on July 10, 2023; My Home Infrastructure Private Limited Rs 15 crore on July 6, 2023; Sri Chaitanya Students Facility Management Rs 10 crore on April 8, 2022; and Sandhya Constructions Private Limited Rs 13 crore on October 8, 2021.
From the Greenko group, Greenko Budhil Hydro Power Pvt Ltd donated Rs 3 crore to the BRS, Greenko Rayala Wing Power Pvt Ltd Rs 3 crore on April 9, 2022; Greenko Astha Projects Rs 1 crore; Greenko HIM Kailash Hydro Power Pvt Ltd Rs 1 crore; and Greenko Sri Sai Krishna Hydro Energies Pvt Ltd Rs 1 crore on April 8, 2022.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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