The Congress government in Telangana was found scrambling to explain a Rs1000 crore deal with a company Swachh Bio which was set up just two weeks ago and apparently owned by chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s brother Jagadeeshwar Reddy.
The BRS has accused the chief minister who is currently in the US to secure investment for Telangana of nepotism and signing the deal with a shell company. At a time when Charles Schwab, a global leader in financial services announced Hyderabad as its prospective location for its technology development centre in the country following discussion with the chief minister the case of Swachh Bio has cast a long shadow on the trip.
The chief minister’s office had posted on social media announcing the deal signed with Swachh Bio. “After a productive meeting with the chief minister A Revanth Reddy and industries and IT minister D Sridhar Babu Swachh Bio, a lignocellulosic biofuels manufacturing company has announced plans for a 250 KLPD biofuels plant in Telangana!” the CMO’s ‘X’ handle had posted.
However, soon the BRS began asking questions about the deal. “Swachh Bio owned by Jagdishwar Reddy Anumula brother Revanth Reddy Anumula. Company started just 15 days ago,” said Krishank, the BRS spokesperson who later held a press conference over the deal. Jagadeeshwar Reddy is one of the two directors of the company Swachh Biogreen Private Limited whose address was mentioned as Jubilee Hills in the Registrar of Companies.
“This so called Swachh Bio doesn’t seem to have a website or a social media handle. And you want the people of Telangana to believe that this company will invest Rs1000 crores?” pointed out Konatham Dileep who had headed the digital media division of government of Telangana under the BRS.
Dileep even tagged Telangana chief secretary Shanthi Kumari and special chief secretary of industry Jayesh Ranjan who are accompanying the chief minister in his US tour. He alleged the Congress government tried to cover up the matter by not revealing the full name of the company and a proxy was used to sign the MoU.
The questions prompted the government to go on the back foot. In a video message Jayesh Ranjan did not mention Swachh Bio but said, “Back in India, in Hyderabad there have been some questions on some of the meetings we had or what kind of outcomes are we expecting. I have been doing this for the last ten years and I am a thorough professional in all these things. No interactions will be put in the agenda without us doing absolutely due diligence and only when we are very sure that great outcomes will happen for the state. There is no cause for worry or apprehension.” AICC’s secretary Sampath Kumar also slammed BRS leaders like Krishank and argued there was nothing wrong if the chief minister’s US based brother invests in the state.