HYDERABAD: A resident of Kondapaka in Siddipet district has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) urging the State government to disclose the initial estimated concession value (IECV) for the Nehru Outer Ring Road (ORR) project in Hyderabad.
The petitioner, Gadeela Raghuveer Reddy, claims that the tender for leasing the NORR was awarded to IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited and IRB Golconda Expressway Limited on May 28, at an unreasonably low price for a 30-year concession period. This, according to the petitioner, could lead to substantial financial losses for the State.
For the financial year 2022-23, the toll revenue generated from the NORR amounts to Rs 542 crore, and it is projected to increase to Rs 689 crore in the subsequent year, 2024-25. The average daily toll revenue currently stands at Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 1.4 crore.
However, the concessionaire has offered a meagre amount of only Rs 67 lakh per day for the next 30 years, which raises concerns about significant financial losses for the State, he stated. The bid of Rs 7,380 crore for the NORR project’s Transfer of Operations and Maintenance Rights (TOT) has also raised suspicions of undervaluation, potentially resulting in substantial loss to the public exchequer, amounting to thousands of crores.