Amrut Scheme Tender Dispute: Ponguleti Dismisses KTR's Allegations
Hyderabad:Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy strongly refuted allegations made by BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao regarding the awarding of tenders under the Centre’s Amrut scheme, pointing out that many of the opposition leader’s contentions were plain wrong.
Responding to Rama Rao's allegations, Srinivas Reddy announced that he would file a defamation suit and pursue legal action against the BRS leader for his "blatant lies" about tender allocations.
Earlier, Rama Rao in a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Saturday, alleged a ` 8,888 crore corruption scandal involving Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his family members. He alleged mismanagement and fraudulent tender allocations under the Centre’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) 2.0 works and accused the Chief Minister of using his position to benefit his family and close associates.
The scheme, according to Rama Rao, involved the illegal allocation of large-scale contracts to companies that lack the requisite qualifications, many of which are closely connected to the Chief Minister’s family. One of the key accusations was directed towards Shodha Infrastructure Limited, owned by Soodhini Srujan Reddy, who Rama Rao alleged, was Revanth Reddy’s brother-in-law.
Hitting back at Rama Rao, Srinivas Reddy in a press conference held at Secretariat on Saturday clarified that the entire value of the tenders was ₹3,602 crore. "How can KTR say ₹8,888 crore worth of tenders were called when the total tender value itself is ₹3,602 crore? If KTR proves this claim, I will resign as minister. Otherwise, will KTR resign as an MLA?" challenged Srinivas Reddy.
Providing a detailed breakdown, Srinivas Reddy explained that the previous BRS government had initially called for tenders under Amrit 2.0 for ₹3,616 crore across three packages. The tenders were issued for 98 water supply projects and nine sewerage projects, with administrative approval given on September 20, 2023. The bids were opened on November 29, 2023, just a day before polling, while the election code of conduct was in force.
In the first round of tenders, the BRS government awarded contracts to PLR Projects Pvt Ltd (₹1,154 crore), Gaja Engineering Pvt Ltd and Prathima Infrastructure (₹1,180 crore), and Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (₹1,321 crore). These companies had collectively quoted 3.99 per cent over the base price.
However, the Congress government, after taking office, re-examined the bidding process, suspecting cartelisation. Fresh tenders were called, and in the second round, the total tender amount was reduced to ₹3,602 crore, resulting in a savings of ₹54.5 crore for the state.
Srinivas Reddy accused Rama Rao of making baseless allegations to divert attention from his own party's misdeeds. He argued that Rama Rao’s claims were not rooted in facts and that the previous BRS government had engaged in cartelisation attempts during the first round of tenders.
“KTR is upset because his close allies and benamis, who had hoped to profit from the cartel, lost out in the transparent bidding process. He is now spreading misinformation to cover up his own failures,” Srinivas Reddy stated.
He alleged that Rama Rao and the BRS had engaged in similar corrupt practices in other projects, including the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation oroject, where a ₹2,300 crore contract was awarded to Srujan Reddy, the son-in-law of former BRS MLA K. Upender Reddy.
"Contrary to KTR's claims, Srujan Reddy is not related to CM Revanth Reddy, but has close ties to KTR and KCR. He was awarded contracts as a reward for defecting from the Congress to the BRS," the minister added.
Srinivas Reddy also urged Rama Rao to refrain from making uninformed statements about the Congress government and its leaders. "KTR should stop criticising our government, ministers, and the Chief Minister with superficial knowledge. Our government has followed a transparent process, and the tenders have been awarded to qualified companies."
Srinivas Reddy accused the previous BRS government of looting public money through various schemes, including the much-publicised Mission Bhagiratha. "The BRS government looted ₹34,000 crore with Mission Bhagiratha, and now they are crying foul when we are conducting transparent processes."
Srinivas Reddy emphasised that the Congress government had nothing to hide and had awarded the Amrut scheme tenders through a legitimate and transparent process. He reiterated his commitment to pursuing legal action against Rama Rao to hold him accountable for spreading misinformation.
