TDP MPs K. Rammohan Naidu and Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar have written separate letters to the Director of the CBI and the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), seeking an inquiry into the alleged sand-mining scam in Andhra Pradesh and stringent action against the culprits.
They said the State government held sand mining auctions through MSTC Limited in 2021 by dividing the State into North Andhra, Coastal and Rayalaseema regions, and the contract was awarded to Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited (JPVL). The validity of the contract ended on May 13, 2023.
Leaders of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), however, have been mining and transporting sand with manual waybills in the name of JPVL. They took nearly two crore tonnes of sand, which fetched them about ₹40,000 crore, they alleged.
Against this backdrop, the government has called for fresh tenders through the e-procurement portal of MSTC Limited for the period starting November, 2023. The tender price has been fixed at an exorbitant rate apparently to discourage competitors and assign the tender to benami firms of YSRCP leaders, they alleged.
The tender processing was being done, and pre-bid meetings were held clandestinely in Kolkata. This resulted in the asymmetrical flow of information to competitors, which was in violation of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969, the MPs charged.
They added that the security deposit for the tenders was fixed at ₹120 crore for all the three regions, but it has been reduced to ₹77 crore in order to award the sand-mining contracts to benami companies.
The CBI and the CVC should, therefore, investigate the irregularities and take appropriate action against those who plundered the natural resource, they said.
Meanwhile, TDP national spokesperson K. Pattabhi Ram said sand was available for free when his party was in power. After the YSRCP took the reins in 2019, sand has become a scarce commodity. The indiscriminate sand mining caused environmental degradation, he said.
