Andhra Pradesh government has ordered a probe into the alleged irregularities in awarding a contract to Telangana minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s Raghava Constructions firm. The state government has sent notices to the construction firm and sought an explanation over the delay in commencement of work.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy is known as a close associate of former AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and he was awarded several contracts in the AP government during the YCP regime. First he had elected as Khammam MP in 2014 as YCP candidate.
But, after formation of K Chandrasekhar Rao government in Telangana, along with two more YCP MLAs from Khammam district, all of them were sent by the then ruling party TRS, allegedly by Jaganmohan Reddy.
Though he continued in BRS till last year, he is continuing his close association with Jaganmohan Reddy and at one stage he was reported to join YS Sharmila’s YSRTP. But ahead of Telangana assembly elections he joined Congress and became a key minister in Revanth Reddy’s cabinet.
Incidentally, Telangana minister’s infrastructure construction secured several projects in the neighbouring state during the last few years. The contract in the eye of the storm is related to the laying of underground electric cables in flood-hit areas in Andhra Pradesh.
Ponguleti’s Raghava Constructions Company has won the tender for the construction of underground power lines under EPDCL with a cost of Rs.1,194 crores. The contract was awarded less than a year ago, but the work has not yet started. The notices warned that if the work is not done immediately, action will be taken.
EPDCL officials are sending notices every month asking him to to start the works related to this contract, but he has been ignoring such notices. The notice warned that if the work is not started in another month, action will be taken.
The works proposed as part of RDSS have to be completed within the stipulated period. Otherwise, the Discom said that the grant from the center will stop. The same issue has been mentioned in the notice.
The YCP government also allegedly increased the tender amount benefiting the contractor. Thus, the value of the project was increased by 37.33 percent compared to the tender prices called in December 2022. This amounts to an additional amount of Rs. 434.94 crores.