Telangana Congress president A. Revanth Reddy on May 24 claimed that the company that was given a lease of Outer Ring Road (ORR) for 30 years has failed to pay the 10% amount within the stipulated time and demanded the State Government cancel the tenders. He further said that the company has requested the government to extend the payment date.
The Mumbai-based company IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd was awarded the lease for ₹7,380 crore contract for Hyderabad Outer Ring Road (ORR) project, under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model, but has failed to pay ₹738 crore within the stipulated 30 days, he claimed.
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The company has written to the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Ltd (HGCL) seeking more time for payment and the government was keen on giving the extension with officials under pressure from the IT Minister, K.T. Rama Rao, he claimed at a press conference in Hyderabad.
“I have been saying the idea of the government to lease out ORR for 30 years is a fraud and selling it to its own people through some private agency,” he alleged.
Mr. Reddy claimed that the HGCL, a subsidiary of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has brought in a retired official B.L.N. Reddy as its Managing Director to sign the papers though the post has to be filled with an IAS officer. He said that IRB Infrastructure has sold 49% of its stake to a Singaporean company and that company has business relations with Mr. KTR’s friends.
“The whole cycle of leasing out ORR is a part of the bigger conspiracy to take over the revenue through some shell companies,” he claimed adding that the ORR project has the potential to earn ₹30,000 crore in 30 years.
Demanding the cancellation of the tenders as the IRB company cannot even pay 10% of the lease amount, Mr. Reddy said the Municipal Administration Secretary Arvind Kumar was not even giving an appointment to him for seeking clarifications on the tender process. Most of the ORR falls in my Parliamentary constituency and why is the officer afraid to meet me, he asked.
Mr. Reddy also questioned the silence of Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and BJP State chief Bandi Sanjay on the ORR lease and the ‘loot’ of public money.
