Congress chief Revanth Reddy has alleged a ₹1,000 crore scam in handing over toll collection to a private firm.
Vehicles speed along the Nehru Outer Ring Road against the background of high-rise buildings in Hyderabad. (iStock)
Telangana Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar on Wednesday, 3 April, said the tender for leasing the Nehru Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Hyderabad was made in a transparent manner.
Kumar was addressing a press conference called in the capital to refute Opposition allegations that the state was leasing the operation of the ORR to private firms at rates that would ensure them windfall profits.
The tenders were called as per the guidelines of National Highways Authority of India (NHIA) and the toll charges would not be increased without the consent of NHIA, he said.
He added that the base price for the lease was also pre-decided, but it was not disclosed to anyone, including the NHIA.
Referring to allegations over the tender process, he said it was inappropriate on the part of a few politicians to level allegations against officials unnecessarily.
The ORR, with a length of over 158 km, is an eight-lane, access-controlled, circular closed-loop tolling highway that encircles Hyderabad.
The construction of ORR began in 2006 in phased manner and was completed in 2018 and, according to experts, is one of the most effective, well-designed and strategically-located ring roads anywhere in the country.
Different stretches of the ORR, as and when they were completed, were opened to toll collection — with the first stretch of 79.45 km opening in 2012.
The entire ORR stretch of 158 km was opened for toll collection from 2018.
However, Telangana Congress president A Revanth Reddy has found fault with the state government for leasing the ORR to a private company.
“Leasing the ORR for 30 years to a private company is nothing but a ₹1,000 crore scam,” he said.
He said he would lodge a complaint with the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in this regard.
“దారి” దోపిడి దొంగలకు ఇప్పటికైనా అర్ధమౌతోందా…!?@TelanganaCMO @KTRBRS @arvindkumar_ias #ByeByeKCR #KCRFailedTelangana #Dramarao pic.twitter.com/PTbmh9a0EU
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) May 3, 2023
Reddy had got into a spat with the police on Tuesday when he was prevented from entering the new secretariat to submit a Right to Information (RTI) application pertaining to the ORR tendering process.
He later told reporters that the BRS government had offered the ORR, which fetches a revenue of ₹750 crore per year to the government, to a company called IRB Infrastructure for its maintenance at a cost of ₹7,388 crore for 30 years.
“KCR has sold away the ORR, six months ahead of demitting office as the chief minister,” Revanth alleged.
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