ORR Toll Contract Scam Bigger Than Delhi Liquor Scam: Congress

Telangana Congress president Revanth Reddy today alleged that the Outer Ring Road (ORR) toll contract scam was 1,000 times bigger than the Delhi liquor scam.

He said that the ORR which was worth Rs 1 lakh crore had been awarded to a private firm for just about Rs 7,000 crore, and that the Kalvakuntla family had looted public money in the name of the project.

He alleged that while CM K Chandrashekar Rao and minister K T Rama Rao were the beneficiaries of the project, the CM's Chief Advisor Somesh Kumar and Special CS Arvind Kumar were the masterminds and actors in the allotment of the project.

Reddy made these remarks while speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan.

Speaking on the occasion, he asked what the Centre was doing on the ORR toll contract scam. He also asked why it was not ordering an inquiry into the issue.

He alleged that the tender was allotted to the private firm IRB Infrastructure Developers for an abnormally long period of 30 years by ignoring the NHAI's suggestion that tender periods should be 15 to 20 years.

"As per my information, the company that won the tender will have to pay 10% of the total value of the tender within 30 days, and the remaining 90% within 120 days. At a press conference yesterday, some BRS MLAs claimed that there were no such provisions. But these provisions are clearly contained in the concession agreement, on pages 20 and 21. If the rules have been changed, the changed rules have to be revealed. It is the responsibility of Arvind Kumar and Somesh Kumar to tell whether the concession agreement that I have made public today is true or not," Reddy said.

He added that the letter of agreement regarding the ORR tender was signed on April 27, 2023, and that the 30-day deadline had expired on Friday, but there was no information on whether IRB had paid Rs 1,800 crore, which was 25% of the total contracted amount.

Reddy demanded that the State government cancel the contract to IRB if it was found to be violating the rules.

He also warned IAS officer Arvind Kumar that he would have to to go to jail if he violated any rules in the issue.

Targeting rival party BJP's leaders, he asked union minister Kishan Reddy and state BJP president Bandi Sanjay why they were silent on the issue, and why the ED and the CBI were not conducting raids.

He alleged that the BRS and the BJP were two pieces cut from the same cloth, and that KCR and Modi were undivided twins.