Watch: BRS delegation meets Governor, seeks CBI probe into Revanth’s kin ‘link’ to Singareni tenders

BRS alleged large-scale corruption in Singareni tender processes and accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s family of benefiting from irregularities. The party met the Governor seeking a CBI or judicial probe, citing inflated project costs and misuse of public funds

Hyderabad: Upping the ante in the battle against what it termed large-scale graft in Singareni tenders, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Tuesday alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, not content with his brothers allegedly cornering land under the controversial Hyderabad Industrial Land Transfer policy, was now attempting to hand over Singareni Collieries to his brother-in-law.

Launching a scathing attack on Revanth Reddy, BRS working president KT Rama Rao alleged that the Chief Minister’s brothers were involved in a HILT scam involving 9,200 acres and now, Singareni tenders were being offered to his brother-in-law under the guise of a site visit certification clause.

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“When a clarification was sought over Chief Minister’s brother-in-law Srujan Reddy’s involvement as the ring master in the Singareni tender irregularities, there was no reply from the Congress government,” Rama Rao said, adding that concerned over a series of serious instances of corruption and financial irregularities under the Congress government in the State, a BRS delegation had met Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at Lok Bhavan.

“An appeal has been made to the Governor to direct Union Minister of Coal G Kishan Reddy to order a probe, either by the CBI or a sitting judge, into the Singareni tenders and to prevent further loss of public money,” Rama Rao told the media after meeting the Governor.

The BRS submitted a memorandum along with documentary evidence related to the alleged misuse of public funds, irregular tendering processes and inflated project costs in mining and solar power projects undertaken by Singareni. The Governor assured that the facts would be verified, said Rama Rao, adding that if justice was not delivered, the BRS under the aegis of TBGKS would conduct programmes to create awareness among Singareni employees over what it described as large-scale plunder in the company and the government’s failure to provide credible explanations despite repeated disclosures by BRS leaders, including former minister T Harish Rao.

Rama Rao raised pointed questions over the site visit certification clause in tender processes, stating that such a clause had never existed in Singareni or in coal mines elsewhere in the country. Questioning why tenders that earlier attracted bids below estimates were cancelled and later re-issued with the new clause, he alleged that the process had resulted in costs rising well above projected values.

Demanding that the State government release a comprehensive White Paper, detailing the number of companies that conducted site visits over the last nine months, communications received by Singareni, certificates issued and the criteria used for selecting contractors, Rama Rao also questioned whether contractors were being selectively favoured and sought clarification on alleged links between beneficiaries and relatives of the Chief Minister.

On solar power projects, he pointed out that while the national average cost ranged between Rs 2.50 crore and Rs 3 crore per megawatt, Singareni projects in Telangana were tendered at nearly Rs 7 crore per megawatt. He also flagged a reported 30 per cent increase in prices of explosives and gelatin sticks used in mining operations, alleging that even Singareni directors who objected to the hike in board meetings were subjected to action while contractors benefited.

The BRS delegation informed the Governor that Singareni was jointly owned by the State government with 51 per cent stake and the Government of India with 49 per cent stake, stressing that every rupee involved was public money and demanding urgent intervention to prevent further losses.

Listing irregularities in Singareni’s OB mining projects and solar power ventures, which he described as systematic siphoning of public funds, Rama Rao recalled that during 2021 and 2022, the BRS government had floated tenders in the Naini coal block without imposing the site visit certification clause. Questioning why the clause was not required during the BRS regime but introduced under the Congress government, he alleged that former minister Harish Rao’s exposure of irregularities with facts and evidence had unnerved Congress leaders.

He alleged that under the guise of a probe, BRS leaders were being served notices to appear before the Special Investigation Team only to divert public attention from what he described as the Singareni scam.

“In Telangana, the people and Singareni employees do not see the CM as Chief Minister anymore. For them, he is now a Coal Mafia leader,” Rama Rao said. He alleged that by misusing Rs 10 crore from Singareni funds for a football match, Revanth Reddy had done grave injustice to the organisation.