Massive Scam In PM Ekta Mall Project, Cancel Tender, Order Probe: KTR Asks Sitharaman

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao alleged a “huge scam” in the tenders

floated for building the PM Ekta (Unity) Mall in Raidurgam here and urged

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to cancel the process and order a

comprehensive probe.

In a letter to Sitharaman, Rama Rao alleged that the Revanth Reddy

government had deliberately inserted “illegal and suspicious conditions: in

the Unity Mall tenders and was mortgaging public resources to provide

excessive benefits to a private developer.

He said of the project’s estimated cost of `2,059.81 crore, around `202

crore in Central assistance had been sanctioned. The mall is expected to

come up in 6.3 acres of highly valuable land in Raidurgam, with a built-up

area of approximately 27 lakh square feet.

He said the allocation of commercial space in this tender raised serious

suspicions, with the government saying its share would be only nine lakh

square feet, while the private developer — a consortium consisted of

Vamsiram Builders and Developers Private Limited as the lead member, and

Aparna Infrahousing Private Limited — getting at least 18 lakh square feet

of space.

“The Congress government is using central assistance or the brand name 'PM

Ekta Mall' as a shield to cover up suspicious tenders,” Rama Rao alleged,

adding that though top BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister and Union

ministers, had publicly commented on the Congress government's rule and

corruption in Telangana, the Centre was failing to take action on the

complaints submitted by the BRS. This raised numerous suspicions and doubts

on why the Centre was silent on these issues, Rama Rao said.