YSRCP MP's Bengal project faltered; group gave TMC Rs 460 mn in poll bonds

02 May 2024 CW Team

Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy, a YSRCP MP and businessman, was reported to have had two Hyderabad companies under his ownership. According to information shared on Facebook, these companies donated a total of Rs 460 million in electoral bonds to the ruling TMC in West Bengal in 2022. This action occurred during a period of turmoil in a $30-million water treatment project being executed in Kolkata for the state government by another company belonging to Reddy.

Data released by the Election Commission indicated that Reddy's companies, namely Chennai Green Woods and Madhya Pradesh Waste Management, contributed Rs 40 crore and Rs 60 million, respectively, to the TMC in January 2022. It was noted that this was the sole instance of donation to the TMC by the two companies. Records further revealed that Madhya Pradesh Waste Management also procured Rs 2.5 million worth of electoral bonds for the BJP in May 2019.

Separately, Chennai Green Woods made contributions of Rs 500 million to the BRS in April 2022 and Rs 150 million to the Congress in October 2023. The project in Kolkata under scrutiny was described as the "Design, construction, operation maintenance of 22 MGD water treatment plant (WTP), reservoir, transmission mains and pumping stations" in New Town. The contract, initially valued at $30.38 million, was awarded in 2018-19 by the West Bengal Public Health Engineering Department (WBPHED), as part of a project supported by the Asian Development Bank. The contract was awarded to a joint venture between Reddy's Hyderabad-based Ramky Infrastructure and Mumbai-headquartered Furnace Fabrica India (FFIL).

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