CBI FIR Against Megha Engineering And Ten Officials of NMDC, MECON And NISP For Corruption In Rs 315-Crore Project

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on April 11 registered a case against Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited, ten officers from NMDC, NISP and MECON, regarding alleged corruption in the execution of a Rs 315 crore project for NISP.

According to reports, the CBI acted on a complaint that eight officials of NISP/NMDC Limited and two officials of MECON Limited received alleged bribe of around Rs 78 lakh in clearing bills of Rs 174 crore of Megha Engineering in connection with works related to Jagdalpur integrated steel plant.

On March 14, the Election Commission of India (ECI) published details of the buyers and beneficiaries of electoral bonds since 2019 in line with the Supreme Court’s orders, ahead of the 18th Lok Sabha elections, and Megha Engineering emerged amongst the top donors on the list.

The Hyderabad-based infrastructure and construction company donated highest amount of about Rs 586 crore to the BJP, according to the data released by the Election Commission on March 21. The company also donated Rs 195 crore to BRS, Rs 85 crore to DMK, and Rs 37 crore to YSRCP. The TDP got about Rs 25 crore from the company, while the Congress got Rs 17 crore. The JD-S, Jana Sena Party and the JD-U got smaller sums ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore.

According to the FIR, the CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry on August 10, 2023 about the alleged bribery in Rs 315 crore project related to works of intake well and pump house and cross-country pipeline at the integrated steel plant Jagdalpur which was awarded to the company. Based on the findings of the preliminary enquiry, a recommendation was made on March 18 to register a regular case into the alleged bribery which was filed on March 31.