Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd, a Hyderabad-based company, reportedly engaged in significant electoral bond purchases prior to securing key projects, including the construction of the Zojila tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir valued at approximately Rs 4,500 crore.
According to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI), MEIL emerged as the second-largest purchaser of electoral bonds, amounting to Rs 966 crore. The company contributed the highest sum, approximately Rs 585 crore, to the BJP, followed by Rs 195 crore to BRS and Rs 85 crore to the DMK. Records indicate that MEIL made a bond purchase of Rs 20 crore in October 2020.
MEIL won the contract for Asia’s longest bi-directional road tunnel project in Jammu and Kashmir during October-November of the same year. In March 2023, the company secured a project worth Rs 3,681 crore for the construction of a bullet train station at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.
The ECI data highlights that MEIL’s largest bond purchase of Rs 140 crore occurred in April 2023. The company also obtained a significant project, the Rs 4,358 crore Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh, in November 2019 through a reverse tendering process initiated by the state government. Additionally, MEIL purchased bonds worth Rs 5 crore in October 2019. The company is involved in various projects across states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
MEIL’s donations extended to political parties such as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which formerly governed Telangana and received Rs 195 crore from the company. MEIL also contributed Rs 85 crore to the DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, and Rs 37 crore to the YSR Congress Party led by Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh. Other beneficiaries included TDP, Congress, JD(S), Jana Sena Party, and JD(U), receiving varying amounts ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 25 crore.
Despite attempts to contact MEIL for comment, there has been no response. Established in 1989 by industrialist Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy as Megha Engineering Enterprises, the unlisted private firm later changed its name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure in 2006. It has since undertaken major infrastructure projects including dams, natural gas distribution networks, power plants, and roads.
