The ACB probe has exposed gross irregularities committed by former Mines Director VG Venkata Reddy in sand mines and it established that instead of protecting the interests of the government, entered into criminal conspiracies with private companies and allowed them to rob them government resources.
ACB revealed that Rs 2,566.82 crores of corruption and irregularities were committed in the three-and-a-half-year sand contract accorded to JP Ventures, but not a single rupee fine was levied to the company.
As per the agreement with the company, the bid amount should be paid on 1st and 16th of every month. Also, 15 percent GST on the contract value of Rs 1,528 crores and 5 percent GST on the sale of sand has to be paid to the government. JP Ventures has to pay a performance security deposit of Rs 120 crore for the sand contract, but not paid.
JP Ventures should register the agreement with the Department of Mines. That didn’t happen. The contract cannot be subcontracted. But it gave a subcontract to a company called Turnkey, which only paid a performance security deposit of Rs 120 crores to the government.
Rs 30.58 crores stamp duty was not paid. Online permits and online transactions should be done as per the agreement regarding the sale of sand. But JP’s company ran manual transactions i.e. cash and carry. JP company has not paid GST Rs.233 crores on the bid value of Rs 1528 crores.
At the time of awarding the sand tender, APMDC had 14.3 lakh metric tonnes of sand worth Rs 130.73 crore under its control, which was also handed over to JP Ventures. The company sold it. But not even a rupee was paid to the government.
It sold 8.26 lakh tonnes of sand located near Prakasam Barrage, but Rs. 39 crores have not been paid to MDC. APMDC has provided a large number of weighing bridges, CCTV cameras, computers and other state-of-the-art technology while undertaking sand sales. When the tender was given to JP, it handed over that technology.
But the company did not return any of it. As a result, the government lost Rs. 27.35 crores. It has to pay huge dues to the government. However, the performance security deposit of Rs 120 crores was returned on March 28 without the knowledge of the government and without running any file.
Though the JP Ventures’ contract expires in May 2023, it was given continuation till November of that year. On the orders of the court, the officials of the Department of Mines inspected the sand reaches and it was found that JP Ventures had done illegal mining. Excavated beyond reach.Excavations were carried out using heavy machinery to damage the environment, contrary to the agreement. As a result, demand notices were given to the company to pay Rs 896.47 crores. Venkata Reddy could not collect that money from JP’s organization.