Hyderabad: Outer Ring Road bid finalisation riddled with huge scam says G Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad : Union Minister for Culture and Tourism G Kishan Reddy on Sunday lashed out at the State government alleging that the Hyderabad Outer Ring Road (ORR) was riddled with a huge scam.

Addressing the media here, he mounted a vitriolic attack on the Kalwakuntla family for killing ORR, which is a golden goose, that gives revenue to the State.

He dared the Kalwakuntla family to ask if it is prepared for an audit of the tender process or for a CBI probe if there is no corruption involved.

Reddy said the BJP government coming to power in Telangana would institute a full-level inquiry and won’t spare anyone involved in the scam to fix accountability and underhand dealings and shares of those involved in it.

He said the government had handed over the ORR bid to IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd for Rs 7,380 crore for 30 years. “Already a company called Egal Infra has been given toll collection against payment of Rs 415 crore to HMDA. Considering the base price and a five per cent annual increase of what Egal Infra is paying, it comes to about Rs 30,000 crore for 30 years,” he added.

The Union minister quoted several experts having said that an increase of 10 per cent fetches about Rs 75,000 crore against toll collection for 30 years. Some others have assessed, given the pace of Hyderabad’s development, a 15 per cent growth would yield Rs 2.7 lakh crore for 30 years, he said.

But, the BRS government sensing that it would not come back to power wanted to make good of the remaining period in power and handed over the ORR for Rs 7,380 crore advance payment without fixing when it will have to be deposited in government account.

Further, Reddy said IRB is maintaining the Mumbai-Pune expressway project. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was given on lease for 10 years and two months. For this the Maharashtra government was receiving Rs 8,875 crore.

He said the government had not disclosed the base value under Section 1.13 before bidding. But it claims to have adhered to guidelines of NHAI. But, it is not a fact, Reddy claimed. While several States have been fixing the maximum period of 10-15 years, he asked why Telangana preferred to fix 30 years.

The State government has boasted to bid for the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant to prevent it from getting privatized; but, it has privatised the Hyderabad ORR for 30 years at the cost of loss of revenue. Reddy asked how could the government fix 30 years when the current HMDA master plan lasts only till 2031.He pointed out that Crisil had studied ORR and submitted a report. But, the government, without disclose it, had roped in another entity to call for a fresh report. The Union minister asked how Rs 100 crore has been increased over and above the original quoted tender price? He said the onus of clearing doubts over the ORR project rests with the government which has turned ORR into an ATM.