BRS alleges Rs 8,000 crore scam in HAM road tenders
Former minister and BRS MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy alleged an Rs 8,000 crore scam in Telangana road projects under Hybrid Annuity Mode. He demanded cancellation of HAM tenders and urged a CBI probe into corruption and financial mismanagement.
Hyderabad: Launching a scathing attack on the Congress government in Telangana for its corruption, former minister and BRS MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy alleged a Rs 8000 crore scandal in road project tenders using the Hybrid Annuity Mode (HAM). Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan, he said new scandals are popping up almost daily.
He described the government as full of secret deals. Cabinet ministers fight over contracts, but the Chief Minister steps in to divide the profits and keep everyone quiet. Reddy pointed to a recent fight between two ministers over one tender, which the Chief Minister settled behind closed doors.
Reddy claimed workers at Deccan Cements faced threats from armed men. He said a top minister’s daughter even blamed the chief minister for it. He cited the liquor hologram scandal, where the Chief Minister allegedly sacrificed a senior officer to cover up fights within his team.
Focusing on the roads sought to be taken up in Hybrid Annuity Mode, he criticized it for raising costs per kilometre by 85%. This turned Rs 9,000 crore projects into Rs 15,000 crore bids. “This amounts to stealing Rs 8,000 crore from taxpayers,” he said. Comparing HAM to the Central Road Fund (CRF) scheme, he said CRF builds roads for Rs 1.75 crore per kilometre, but HAM costs Rs 3.30 crore.
Strangely, the State issued orders for both schemes with a gap of just 10 days, with rates that don’t match. The companies that won the contracts get 10% of the money upfront from the State, up to Rs 1,500 crore in total. This cash is easy to misuse. In addition to this, there was Rs 2.5 crore per year for maintenance per kilometer, making the total Rs 6 crore per road stretch.
HAM promises 40% funding from the State and 60% from private firms. Calling it a trap, Reddy said the companies borrow heavily, and the government ends up paying the loan interest and this system burdens ordinary people, he said.
Reddy demanded that all HAM tenders be canceled immediately. He warned engineers, officials and big builders to stay away from this “government-supported robbery”.
He called for fast central investigations and urged Telangana’s Union ministers, G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, to push for a CBI probe. “If there is any honesty left, they must act now,” he added.
MLAs Kaleru Venkatesh and Dr. K. Sanjay, former Grandhalaya chairman Ayachitam Sridhar, and ex-BC Commission member K. Kishore Goud also joined him at the press conference.
