Union Minister of Tourism G.Kishan Reddy has joined the Opposition ranks in criticising the handover of the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to a private concessionaire for maintenance on ‘Toll-Operate-Transfer’ (TOT) basis at ₹7,380 crore for a period of 30 years, and accused the BRS government of being involved in a “big scam”.
“It is a pre-planned conspiracy to kill the golden goose of ORR to serve the selfish interests of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his family in a fresh corrupt drama. Is the government ready for an independent audit into the dubious tender procedure or a probe by the CBI if it is clean,” he asked during a press conference at the BJP office here on Sunday.
Flanked by former MLA Ch. Ramachandra Reddy and others, Mr. Kishan Reddy said that the private firm currently collecting toll is paying ₹415 crore annually to the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, and if this was taken as the base price, a 5% increase each year would fetch ₹30,000 crore, 10% hike ₹75,000 crore and 15% around ₹2 lakh crore during the 30-year period.
