Revanth seeks ORR contract details under RTI from TS govt

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Anumula Revanth Reddy on Monday sought detailed information related to awarding of Outer Ring Road (ORR) leasing contract to Mumbai-based IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited under RTI Act.

The TPCC president went to the newly inaugurated Telangana Secretariat to apply for the details, but he was not allowed to enter the premises. Later, he went to the office of Municipal Administration & Urban Development Department at Masab Tank and submitted the application under Right to Information Act (RTI Act).

In the application, he sought details of the bidding process including the details of companies who participated in the bidding. He also asked for the list of companies which qualified in technical bidding process.

It may be mentioned here that Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), which owns and operates ORR, recently awarded leasing contract of ORR to IRB Infrastructure Developers for 30 years for advance payment of Rs 7,380 crore under TOT (toll-operate-transfer) mechanism.

“Even today, ORR is capable of churning out revenues to the tune of Rs 750 crore annually through toll collection. That way IRB Infra will be able to get back its entire amount within a span of a few years,” Reddy told the media after submitting the application.

KCR family is benefitting by leasing out ORR to a private company and KT Rama Rao, Municipal Administration Minister and son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, is the ultimate beneficiary of the contract, he alleged.

Further alleging largescale corruption in the leasing contract, he said that Congress would immediately cancel the contract after coming to power. “As BRS will lose power in next three months, the KCR government has no right to take such major decisions,” he said.