HYDERABAD: Reacting to the raids by the Enforcement Directorate on Madhucon Group, TRS Lok Sabha floor leader Nama Nageswara Rao said that he would sail through the crisis with TRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao by his side. “My strength is KCR and the people of my constituency. They have always been my support,” Nageswara Rao said.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the Khammam Lok Sabha member said that Madhucon Group, which is owned by his family, had built nearly seven per cent of the golden quadrilateral and six per cent length of Konkan Railways. Madhucon Group won a prestigious award from Konkan Railways for quality construction, he added.
“The company is also working in very difficult areas near the China border in Arunachal Pradesh,” he pointed out. On the raids relating to alleged fund diversion of Ranchi Expressway Limited Company, a Madhucon Group company, reportedly causing a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore to a consortium of banks, Nageswara Rao said that it was the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) which failed to hand over the land within the stipulated period of seven years for the construction of the highway.
“Out of the estimated project cost of Rs 1,655 crore, equity to be brought in by the company was Rs 463.40 crore and the debt to be funded by the bankers was Rs 1,191.60 crore. The company brought in equity of Rs 485 crore, which is more than what it had even agreed to, and the bankers released only Rs 652 crore for the project. The balance Rs 378 crore was adjusted towards the interest,” he said. “The NHAI did not invest any amount in this project. Due to delays and defaults on the part of NHAI, the company suffered a lot,” Nageswara Rao added.