Pawan Khera alleges cartelisation in UP expressway tenders questions Rs 17 542-cr approval

Lucknow, Nov 13 (PTI) Congress leader Pawan Khera on Friday alleged cartelisation and large-scale corruption in the Uttar Pradesh government's award of contracts for four link expressways, claiming that six companies had shared seven packages among themselves and questioning the state cabinet's approval of Rs 17,542 crore for the projects.

     Addressing a press conference here, the Congress media and publicity department chairman alleged that the bidding pattern indicated a pre-arranged distribution of contracts, with each of the six companies bidding for exactly three packages and every company securing at least one contract.

     "These figures tell the story of a cartel. This is not a tender but a distribution of contracts among six companies, which the BJP government has approved," Khera said, according to a party statement.

     The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) opened financial bids for seven packages of four link expressways on September 28, while the state cabinet approved Rs 17,542 crore for the projects on October 27, he said.

     Khera cited the example of the Jhansi and Farrukhabad packages, alleging that the winning bidders quoted marginally below the estimated cost while other companies quoted substantially higher rates. He also pointed to bids by Afcons and Apco, which were marginally below estimates in packages they won but quoted 20.5 per cent and 24-38 per cent above estimates in others.

     "These bids were not meant to win but to create an illusion of competition," he alleged, adding that an average of only 2.5 bids were received per package.

     Questioning the government's stance, Khera recalled that in 2018 the Yogi Adityanath government had "cancelled bids" for the Purvanchal Expressway, alleging that companies had acted like a cartel.

     "At that time, the government cancelled the bids saying companies had formed a cartel. This time, the cartel is even more evident, yet the government has approved the contracts. Why are its eyes closed now, and who is getting what share?" he asked.

     The Congress demanded cancellation of all seven contracts, fresh open tenders and investigations by the Competition Commission of India and a judicial panel.

     It also sought disclosure of details relating to bank guarantees, online bid submissions, disqualification of bidders and the eligibility of Russian company Volgadorstroi, which secured two packages, according to the statement.

     Khera also raised the issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that around 3.31 crore voters had gone missing from Uttar Pradesh's assembly voter list.

     Citing figures he attributed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's presentation at a BJP meeting, Khera said the state's assembly electoral roll had 13.39 crore voters after the revision, against 16.77 crore names in local body electoral rolls.

     He demanded that the Election Commission publish constituency-wise and booth-wise lists of deleted names along with reasons.

     "Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of vote theft through SIR across the country, and now a BJP chief minister has also acknowledged this truth," Khera said.

     He alleged that the exercise was being conducted at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and claimed Adityanath's questions amounted to a challenge to the two leaders and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

     Khera further accused the state government of a Rs 10,000-crore medicines scam, citing alleged price disparities in medicines, and criticised Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak for advising young people to consider driving e-rickshaws instead of seeking government jobs.

     He also referred to the controversy over alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya and criticised the prime minister over the issue.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)