Radial Road-2 tenders: ED complaint alleges rigging, kickbacks

Hyderabad: Former All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Bakka Judson has sought an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the Rs 3,296-crore Radial Road-2 expressway tenders, alleging that the bid evaluation was manipulated and that kickbacks may have changed hands.

In a complaint dated October 25 to the Joint Director of the ED’s Hyderabad zonal office, Judson asked the agency to examine, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), whether any proceeds of crime were generated in the award of the project’s three packages.

The 81.15-km greenfield road is being built by the Hyderabad Growth Corridor Ltd (HGCL) under the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA). It will connect the Outer Ring Road at Budvel-Kothwalguda to NH-167N near Nacharam.

According to the complaint, the contracts were awarded to NCC Ltd for Rs 1,286.03 crore, BVSR Constructions for Rs 1,071.59 crore and GKC Projects for Rs 1,081.54 crore. Taken together, the three awards exceed the combined estimate by about Rs 143 crore.

Uneven yardstick

Judson pointed to what he called inconsistent evaluation. GKC was disqualified for Package 1 but qualified for the other two. BVSR made the cut for Packages 1 and 2 but not 3. Sushee Infra and Mining, a firm linked to the family of Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy, was knocked out of all three.

He also questioned the speed of the process. Bids closed on September 30 and the technical evaluation, financial bid opening and allocation were reportedly completed by around October 8, roughly five working days.

The complaint cites Rajagopal Reddy’s public claim that a person he described as very close to the Chief Minister phoned him and advised that Sushee Infra should stay out of the bidding. It also refers to an allegation by RVM Constructions India Ltd, in a representation to the Builders Association of India, that a 15 per cent commission was being demanded for government project awards.

Sushee Infra has claimed its bids were about Rs 600 crore lower than those of the winning bidders.

“I am not asserting that this allegation is proved,” Judson said in his complaint. He asked the ED to secure e-procurement logs, evaluation records, call records and bank transactions, and to coordinate with the CBI, the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the Income Tax Department and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

Case in the Telangana High Court

Sushee Infra has challenged its disqualification in the Telangana High Court. According to reports, HGCL rejected the firm’s technical bids because an experience certificate lacked a counter-signature from a superintending engineer. The court has said any decision on the packages will be subject to its orders.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao has separately demanded that the tenders be cancelled and that a special CAG audit be carried out of HMDA and HGCL contracts.

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