Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former IT minister KT Rama Rao (KTR), has made fresh allegations of a multi-crore scam, involving chief minister Revanth Reddy and his associates, from the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme, a Union government scheme aimed at providing tap water to all households.
Addressing the media, the former minister alleged that the contracts regarding AMRUT 2.0 scheme in Telangana were awarded to the companies whose stakeholders are close to the chief minister’s family. KTR alleged these companies lack the requisite qualifications to execute these large-scale contracts by working with the urban development department.
A key allegation among the series of accusations around AMRUT 2.0 is a Rs 1137 crore contract awarded to Shodha Infrastructure Limited, allegedly owned by Soodhini Srujan Reddy, Revanth Reddy’s brother-in-law. KTR calls out foul play in this contract, with the company having a capital of just over 2 crores of declared profit.
“The only qualification this company seems to have is its family connection to the chief minister,” KTR stated
Additionally, KTR further alleged a the public-listed concrete pipe manufacturing company, Indian Hume Pipe Ltd., was forced into a joint venture with Shodha Infrastructure for this project, with Indian Hume Pipe assigned only 20% of the project work, while Shodha Infrastructure was handed 80%.
“The entire tendering process has been riddled with irregularities, with Revanth Reddy personally pressuring municipal officials to facilitate the awarding of these contracts,” KTR said.
KTR accuses Telangana govt of awarding ‘AMRUT’ contracts to CM’s family
The BRS second-in-command demanded the project’s tender details be made public, and to maintain transparency, while alleging that the Congress-led state government has deliberately concealed information regarding the tenders called for over the past nine months.
KTR added that the chief minister would have to face serious consequences under the Office of Profit Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scandal.
KTR also took a dig at the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership for remaining silent on the issue hinting at their complicity in the corruption regarding the alleged AMRUT 2.0 scheme scam.
In a letter addressed to Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Tokhan Sahu, KTR demanded the Union government cancel the contracts and conduct a thorough investigation.
AMRUTH 2.0 scheme, launched in October 2021, has allocated a total of Rs 9584.26 crore to Telangana, of which Rs 5355.05 crore has been awarded and Rs 4229.21 crore is yet to be awarded by the Union government, upon the project report and tendering stages being completed.
