Before you read this, here's a personal appeal. If you like our journalism, support us by becoming a member. Your support will help us continue to tell stories that matter to you.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) was among the top donors who purchased State Bank of India (SBI) bonds to donate as part of the Electoral Bonds scheme. MEIL, popularly known as Megha, purchased bonds worth Rs 966 crore between 2019 and 2023. The company, based out of Telangana, had made its first donation in April 2019 and its latest one in October 2023.
Besides donations from MEIL, the SBI data also shows three companies associated with MEIL had made significant donations. Western UP Power Transmission Company Limited donated Rs 220 crore through electoral bonds, SEPC Power donated Rs 40 crore, and the Evey Trans Private Limited had donated Rs 6 crores. If one combines all these, the total bonds purchased by MEIL and associated companies comes to over Rs 1,200 crore.
In August 2018, MEIL also ventured into TV news, by buying major stake in the TV9 network.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday, 14 March, made the electoral bonds data public as per the orders of the Supreme Court of India. The data was made public after the SBI submitted the bonds data on the election body on Tuesday. A study of the documents made public shows that MEIL was the second-highest donor via electoral bonds, coming only after Future Gaming And Hotel Services, a lottery company.
Who Owns MEIL?
MEIL was founded as Megha Engineering Enterprises in 1989 by Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy, a Hyderabad-based industrialist.
Born in an agrarian family from coastal Andhra Pradesh, Reddy initially began by manufacturing pipes for municipalities and later his company expanded into big infrastructure projects such as dams, natural gas distribution networks, power plants, and roads.
In 2006, he changed the company's name to Megha Engineering & Infrastructures. His nephew, PV Krishna Reddy, who joined him in 1991, runs the company.
One of the most important projects that MEIL undertook was the $14 billion Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project that involved supplying water from Godavari River to the arid parts of Telangana.
"That's like moving a river," says Reddy is reported to have said about the project.
The company is said to have launched several ventures across Asia and it also entered the defence sector.
Ministry of Defence, Other Major Government Projects Bagged by MEIL
Reddy broke into India's 100 richest people in 2023 and is deemed to be the richest individual in the construction industry in the country. Notably, his house, known as the 'diamond house', is a popular landmark in Hyderabad, given that its shaped and designed like a diamond.
In August 2020, MEIL had bagged a Rs 4,509 crore tunneling contract for the prestigious Zojila project in Jammu & Kashmir.
At the time, Business Standard had reported that "Little known Megha Engineering beats the Goliaths of the infra space," stating that in a span of five years – between 2014 to 2019 – the company's revenue nearly quadrupled, while its net profit jumped 6x, making it India's largest construction and engineering firm after Larsen & Toubro.
Most recently, in June 2023, MEIL bagged a Rs 500 crore order from the defence ministry.
"The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday inked a contract with ICOMM Tele Limited for the procurement of 1,035 of 5/7.5 ton radio relay communication equipment containers. The delivery of the containers is scheduled to commence from the current Financial Year 2023-24," MEIL had said in a statement.
Prior to that, in April 2023, MEIL had beaten Larsen & Toubro to bag two separate packages to build the ambitious Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project in Mumbai for a total bid of Rs 14,400 crore.
The MEIL purchased electoral bonds worth crores in the preceding months (April 2023) as well the succeeding months (July 2023).
SEPC, a power company associated with MEIL, purchased bonds worth Rs 40 crore, all of them in November 2023, on the eve of Assembly elections in Telangana. Srinivas Bonthu, is listed as a "wholetime director" at MEIL, is also listed as Managing Director at SEPC.
However, it is impossible to say with certainty which party the bonds were donated to since the SBI has submitted to separate lists – one of the details about the companies and entities that bought electoral bonds and the date of purchase. The second list gives details of the political parties which encashed electoral bonds, dates and the amount. It cannot be known which company bought whose electoral bonds. The bond numbers have not been provided.
I-T Raid on MEIL In 2019
Not long before MEIL bagged all these projects, the company had faced an Income Tax (IT) raid in October 2019. The I-T department raided Reddy's offices, residence and guest house in 15 locations in Hyderabad and also in the company's properties in Delhi and Mumbai.
That year, MEIL was awarded the contract for the construction of the Kaleswaram Project. The company also constructed the Pattiseema irrigation project in record time in Andhra Pradesh. MEIL has large power projects in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. MEIL had also built Khargone Lift Irrigation Project in Madhya Pradesh.
The Opposition in Telangana has been accusing MEIL of being close to the then TRS (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi or BRS) government. Then YSR Telangana Party president YS Sharmila, now with the Congress, had in 2022 alleged large scale corruption in the Kaleshwaram Project.
In 2024, the company was accused of fraud in the Kaleshwaram Project after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report alleged that the company was paid an excess of Rs 5,188.43 crore in just four packages, involving the supply and commissioning of pumps, motors, and auxiliary equipment.
Both the Congress as well as the BJP accused the BRS of showing patronage to the MEIL company, stating that the 'Bahubali' project of KLIS was a "cesspool of corruption."
MEIL Praised by Nitin Gadkari in Parliament
In March 2022, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road and Highways, had praised MEIL in the parliament, in regard to its construction of the Zoji-la Tunnel near the Himalayas. "The estimated cost (to make the tunnel was Rs 12,000 crore. And I am happy to tell you, the company which won the contract...is a company in Hyderabad, Megha Engineering, and through this one job our government saved Rs 5,000 crore," Gadkari said, amid applause from the parliamentarians.
Prior to that, MEIL had shared videos in September and October 2021, of Gadkari inspecting the tunnel.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)