Hyderabad construction firm alleges 15% commission demands for tenders by Revanth govt
A construction company based in Telangana has accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s office of serious irregularities in inviting and evaluating tenders for the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited’s (HGCL) Radial Road-2 project. It also alleged that commissions were being demanded for the release of p
A construction company based in Telangana has accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s office of serious irregularities in inviting and evaluating tenders for the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited’s (HGCL) Radial Road-2 project. It also alleged that commissions were being demanded for the release of pending payments amounting to over Rs 20,000 crore. The allegations were levelled by RVM Constructions India Limited in a letter to the Builders Association of India (BAI), the apex body of construction companies, seeking their intervention. RVM Constructions managing director Nama Ramesh alleged that the tender process for various projects was manipulated to favour pre-selected bidders. He cited the example of Sushee Infra, which he alleged was disqualified from the bidding process for the Radial Road-2 project using political influence. The letter alleged, “As is widely known, there is a political rift between Shri Rajagopal Reddy and Shri Revanth Reddy. Since Sushee Infra belongs to Shri Rajagopal Reddy's family, it is alleged that the Chief Minister influenced the client to disqualify the company.” “Over the last five to six years, I have observed that at least 10–12 companies typically participate in engineering, procurement, construction/hybrid annuity model projects tendered by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and state governments. In [the three Radial Road-2 packages], however, only four bidders participated, and the remaining bidders are understood to be companies pre-arranged with the Chief Minister Revanth Reddy,” the letter said. The letter alleged that other contractors who intended to bid received threatening calls from the Chief Minister’s Office. Sushee Infra was warned it could be disqualified if it took part in the bidding process, the letter further alleged. “Sushee Infra has stated that it bid for all three packages and that its quoted prices were much lower than those of the present L1 bidders, the total difference amounting to approximately Rs 600 crores against the tendered value. This saving would have benefited the people of Telangana and the development of the state,” the letter claimed.“Believing that these tenders were pre-arranged under the direction of the Chief Minister, Sushee Infra has approached the court, and the matter is presently sub judice,” the letter noted.The letter also made allegations about commissions in the state’s contracting system. It said, “It is widely reported that the Chief Minister, Shri Revanth Reddy, has demanded a commission of 15% for awarding these projects to contractors. It is an open secret, yet no MLA or Minister is speaking about it. It is further alleged that bill payments are being released only to those contractors who pay commissions.”“Nearly Rs 20,000 crores payment is due to contractors in Telangana against certified bills, some of it for the last three years, and huge commissions are reportedly being demanded for its release,” Ramesh alleged.“In certain cases, payments have been due for more than three years, and certain works are on hold on the basis of oral instructions from the concerned departments. When contractors requested payment and clearance/closure of these works, the departments stated that they had oral instructions from the Chief Minister to stop all such projects until further orders,” the letter also alleged.RVM Constructions has asked BAI to seek a mechanism for timely bill payments without commissions, support Sushee Infra in its dispute, and press for an open tender process that gives all eligible contractors an equal opportunity.