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A number of large infrastructure projects of Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) were awarded to it by government departments and public sector undertakings (PSUs) either just before or immediately after the Hyderabad-headquartered company purchased electoral bonds, a majority of which many were redeemed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), shows an analysis of bond issuance and redemption data made public by the Election Commission of India.
MEIL, promoted by Pamireddy Pichi Reddy and P V Krishna Reddy, purchased bonds worth Rs 966 crore, and is the second largest buyer after Future Gaming.
The Indian Express identified five major projects that MEIL bagged between 2019 and 2023 where the company bought bonds close to being awarded the contracts, and a sizeable chunk of those bonds were then redeemed by the BJP.
In another four instances, though the company did buy electoral bonds around the time it was awarded contracts, the bonds were redeemed by political parties that were not ruling the government at the Centre or the state whose undertaking awarded the contract. In all, there were at least nine instances of MEIL purchasing electoral bonds around the time —up to a couple of months before or after — of winning contracts.
MEIL purchased bonds regularly in multiple windows between April 2019 and October 2023. Of its total electoral bond purchases of Rs 966 core, the maximum—Rs 584 crore—went to the BJP. The BRS redeemed Rs 195 crore worth of bonds bought by MEIL, followed by the DMK with Rs 85 crore worth. Other political parties that received funds from MEIL through electoral bonds included the YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Congress, Janta Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular), and Janasena Party.
Just a month before it bagged the Rs 14,400-crore Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project in May 2023 from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), MEIL bought electoral bonds worth Rs 140 crore. Of these, Rs 115 crore worth were redeemed by the BJP. Larsen & Toubro (L&T), which lost out on the project, had moved the Bombay High Court against the award to MEIL. L&T claimed that its technical bid for one package of the project was wrongfully rejected by the MMRDA, while in the second package, its bid was rejected despite being the successful bid. The court later quashed L&T’s pleas.
Then in October 2023, the company bought Rs 160 crore worth of electoral bonds, of which, Rs 150 crore worth were redeemed by the BJP. This tranche came after MEIL announced late September that it had bagged a $648-million Mongolia refinery project, which is being executed with the Indian government’s assistance.
In October 2022, MEIL won two contracts worth a total of around Rs 3,200 crore from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery, a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and the Rajasthan Government, with an equity split of 74 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively. In the same month, MEIL purchased Rs 10 crore worth of bonds, of which, Rs 8 crore worth were redeemed by the BJP. Apart from being a Central PSU, HPCL is also a subsidiary of public sector energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
In March 2021, MEIL bagged a civil works contract in Mangalore worth nearly Rs 300 crore from HPCL. Next month, on April 6, MEIL purchased electoral bonds worth Rs 38 crore, of which, Rs 33 crore worth were redeemed by the BJP. MEIL had also bought Rs 40 crore worth of bonds on April 5, but these were redeemed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
MEIL bagged a contract worth around Rs 6,000 crore from public sector energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for oil rigs around June-July 2019, and had bought electoral bonds worth Rs 60 crore in May. Of these, bonds worth Rs 53 crore were redeemed by the BJP. In April 2019, MEIL had bought bonds worth Rs 65 crore, all of which were redeemed by the BJP. This period also coincided with the Lok Sabha elections of 2019.
Interestingly, MEIL bought Rs 20 crore worth of electoral bonds in October 2020 close on the heels of winning another order worth around Rs 800 crore from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery and the Rs 4,700-crore Zojila tunnel contract from the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL). However, all these bonds went to the DMK.
Similarly, MEIL won more contracts (estimated at over Rs 5,000 crore) from HPCL Rajasthan Refinery in August-September 2021. Soon after, in October 2021, MEIL bought electoral bonds worth Rs 100 crore but all of those were redeemed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
Emails sent by The Indian Express to MEIL, MMRDA, HPCL, and NHIDCL seeking their comments on the matter did not elicit a response. An ONGC spokesperson said MEIL was awarded the contract for 47 rigs in 2019 through international competitive bidding in a transparent tendering process, adhering to all the requisite norms.
