ORR tender: Withdraw legal notice or face action, Revanth warns IAS Arvind Kumar

Hyderabad: Outer Ring Road lease tender has now made principal secretary of municipal administration and urban development Arvind Kumar a target for the Opposition.

Telangana Congress Committee president Revanth Reddy has warned of civil and criminal action against IAS officer Arvind Kumar. “Withdraw legal notices related to the ORR lease by May 25, or face legal action,” is the stern warning given to the officer through Revanth’s legal team.

This was intended as a reply to the defamation case filed by Arvind Kumar to the slew of irregularities pointed out by Revanth Reddy in the ORR lease case.

Revanth Reddy said, “Arvind Kumar is acting like a politician. He is an IAS officer and should follow the service rules, and act and perform his responsibilities accordingly. He must be neutral. But that is not so.” “I am a Member of Parliament of the Malkajgiri constituency and half of ORR falls in my constituency. I have the right to point out the irregularities,” he added.

What are Revanth Reddy's allegations?

- The Hyderabad Metropolitan Authority Master Plan will end in 2031. This contract will have problems as there are possibilities of change in urban plans.

- The lease given by the ruling BRS is for 30 years for only Rs 7,380 crore. However, the National Highways of India have suggested that tenders must be given only for 15 to 20 years.

- This contract has been given without even considering the objection of NHAI.

- Further, rules regarding overseeing of the project were violated as a retired officer was appointed instead of an IAS officer for the tender process. The tender process also saw the replacement of HMDA with HGCL (Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited).

Reddy said that, “There was no response from Arvind Kumar even after he was approached multiple times to explain the irregularities. He refused to disclose the base price related to the tenders. The report of the traffic on ORR, assessors evaluating the value of the tender was also not placed in the public domain. Why? All these issues are only strengthening our suspicion about something going wrong with the works.”

What is Arvind Kumar’s response?

In a press conference in the first week of May, Arvind Kumar gave details of the ORR contract and stated that the process has been done as per the rule book. He said:

- The ORR tenders have been called according to the rules of National Highways of India.

- The tender deadline was extended three times.

- Toll-operate-transfer model has been followed in accordance with the 2021 policy.

- Success of the TOT model in Maharashtra prove its viability in its usage in the current project.

- Infrastructure Developers Limited was given the appointment letter on April 27, as the highest bidder for the contract of Rs 7,380 crore.

Kumar asserted that there were no irregularities, and a defamation case was filed due to constant charges against the contract levied by Revanth Reddy.

Further, Bharat Rashtra Samithi working president and minister for urban administration and information technology KT Rama Rao, in a recent press conference, warned against baseless allegations by the Congress.

He said, “The government has given a detailed clarification. The details are in the open. It is also clear that any investigation agency can check and no irregularities will be found. False narratives will not be tolerated. The matter is now in the court and let the court decide.”