Megha Engineering: Infrastructure giant & second biggest electoral bond donor, run by PV Krishna Reddy

The Election Commission of India has released information on electoral bonds for the period between April 12, 2019 to January 24, 2024, sharing the details on the top recipients and donors. The second biggest donor on this list is the Telangana based infrastructure major, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited.

Bought bonds worth over ₹1,200 cr

Run by PV Krishna Reddy, Megha Engineering bought ₹966 crore worth of electoral bonds between 2019 and 2023. Three other companies of the group, Western UP Power Transmission Company, SPEC Power and Evey Trans Private Limited also bought bonds worth ₹266 crore during this period, taking the group’s total donations to over ₹1,200 crore.

Founders: PP Reddy, PV Krishna Reddy

Megha Engineering is a Telangana-based business conglomerate with major interest in infrastructure. It was established by Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy in 1989 as Megha Engineering Enterprises. His nephew PV Krishna Reddy, who runs the conglomerate now, joined the company soon.

From pipes to dams

Initially the company used to build small pipes for municipalities. However, it soon expanded into building infrastructure projects such as dams, roads and power plants. Now PP Reddy and PV Krishna Reddy are the 54th richest in India with net-worth of over $4 billion, according to Forbes ‘India’s 100 richest’ list for 2023.

Mega irrigation project, Zojila Tunnel

Megha Engineering is now known for executing mega infrastructure projects. It has built one of the largest irrigation projects in Telangana worth over ₹1.1 lakh crore. It has also constructed Asia's longest bi-directional tunnel, Zoji La project, to connect Srinagar and Ladakh. In 2023, the Hyderabad-based company beat engineering bellwether Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) to bag the Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project in Mumbai for a total bid amount of ₹14,400 crore,

The Electric Vehicles Business

The group’s electric vehicles company, Olectra Greentech, is one of the leading electric bus-makers makers in India. In February 2024, Olectra Greentech won a contract from Mumbai’s public transport agency, Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST) for supply of 2,400 electric buses worth ₹4,000 crore. In July 2023, it received an order for 5,150 buses from Maharashtra’s State Road Transport Corporation worth around ₹10,000 crore. In March 2023, it won an order from Telangana State Road Transport Corporation for 550 Buses worth around ₹1,000 crore.

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