New Delhi | Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the little-known Hyderabad-based firm that in recent years won the prestigious Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, forayed into city gas and acquired a media group, was the second largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) bought a total of Rs 966 crore worth of bonds between financial years 2019-20 and 2023-24 - the period when it won the project to build an all-weather road tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020 as well as licenses to retail CNG and piped cooking gas in some cities.
The unlisted private firm was founded in 1989 by industrialist Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy as Megha Engineering Enterprises, manufacturing pipes for municipalities. It changed its name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure in 2006 and went on to execute big infrastructure projects like dams, natural gas distribution networks, power plants, and roads.
It was awarded a Rs 1.51 lakh crore Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project that involved supplying water from the Godavari River to the arid parts of Telangana by the BRS-led government in the state.
BRS, according to the information released by the Election Commission on Thursday evening, got Rs 1,214.7 crore worth of electoral bonds between 2019 and 2023. This was the fourth-highest donation received after BJP, TMC and Congress.
In 2006, Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy changed the company's name to Megha Engineering & Infrastructure. His nephew, PV Krishna Reddy, who joined him in 1991, runs the company.
MEIL has, in recent years, seen a meteoric rise, winning major projects across the sectors.
MEIL did not reply to a query sent by PTI, seeking a response over the development.
As per the information on company's X handle, MEIL is executing several infra, power, EV, water treatment projects on a large scale in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
"Megha Engineering & Infra got the Rs 4,500 crore Zojila tunnel project in August 2020, then donated Rs 20 crore in Electoral Bonds in October 2020," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in an X post.
MEIL projects include Asia's longest bi-directional all-weather Zojila Road Tunnel Project, which connects the Kashmir valley and the Ladakh region, development of two inter-state power transmission projects in Uttar Pradesh, Yadgir multi-village drinking water project in Karnataka as part of the government's JalJeevanMission, Renigunta Naidupeta Road Project and 960 MW Polavaram Hydropower Project in Andhra Pradesh.
MEIL is also executing the 212.5 MLD (million litre/day) Amberpeta sewage treatment plant in Telangana, the Dhenkanal drinking water project in Odisha and the Kundah Pumped Storage Hydel Power Project in Tamil Nadu, among others.
Its arm Megha City Gas Distribution Private Limited is also executing a few city gas distribution (CGD) projects at various locations in India. Another group entity Olectra Greentech Ltd, which is a listed company, operates e-buses in Maharashtra.
According to a Crisil report, as of September 31, 2023, MEIL had an order book of Rs 1.87 lakh crore. In the first six months of fiscal 2024, MEIL (on a standalone basis) posted revenues of Rs 14,341 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,345 crore compared to Rs 13,057 crore and Rs 1,532 crore, respectively, during the same period last fiscal.