Telangana CM orders SIT probe into Outer Ring Road toll contract

Hyderabad, Dec 19 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday announced a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into alleged irregularities in Outer Ring Road (ORR) toll tenders during the previous BRS regime. 

The Chief Minister made the announcement in the State Legislative Assembly today on a request by BRS MLA and former minister T. Harish Rao.

He told the House that the issue would be discussed in the Cabinet meeting to evolve the procedure.

The toll contract for the 158-km ORR encircling the city was awarded for 30 years in May 2023 by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA).

The Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) contract was awarded to IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited.

The contract was valued at Rs 7,380 crore, but the Congress party alleged that this was much below the estimated revenue of Rs. 18,000 crore over the same period.

The Chief Minister said that the contract was awarded just before the Assembly elections.

In February, he had pulled up the HMDA officials for finalising the tenders at a low price, which resulted in a huge revenue loss for the state government.

He asked why the tenders were called without fixing the minimum rate.

The Chief Minister had then ordered a thorough investigation into the whole episode, including the involvement of people and the organisations responsible in the tender process.

Then HMDA Joint Commissioner Amrapali was asked to submit complete details about the irregularities in the tenders, the procedures followed and the movement of the files during the tendering process.

Officials had explained to the CM that the total revenue generated from the ORR was Rs 600 crore per year before calling the toll tenders.

It was primarily estimated the government incurred a loss of Rs 15,000 crore due to the tender process adopted by the HMDA.

When the issue came up in the Assembly on Thursday, the Chief Minister announced a probe by SIT.

Revanth Reddy claimed it was because of the efforts of Congress that Hyderabad became an international city.

"The city has achieved this status because of drinking water supply from Krishna and Godavari rivers, IRR, international Airport, Metro Rail, IT and pharma companies, good law and order situation and communal harmony," he said.

The Chief Minister stated that the state's revenues grew because of ORR and the new international airport.

He claimed that the decisions taken by the then Congress government headed by YSR changed the face of Hyderabad and increased the state's revenues.