New Delhi:

Mejia Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd has purchased a number of electoral bonds close to the dates of key projects, including the all-weather Zojila Tunnel under construction in Jammu and Kashmir at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore.

Hyderabad-based Mejia Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) has emerged as the second largest buyer of electoral bonds worth Rs 966 crore, data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday showed.

The unlisted company donated the highest amount of around Rs 585 crore to the BJP, followed by Rs 195 crore to the BRS and Rs 85 crore to the DMK.

According to available information, MEIL purchased bonds worth Rs 20 crore in October 2020.

From October to November of the same year, the company won the project to build Asia’s longest two-way road tunnel in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

In March 2023, MEIL was awarded a Rs 3,681-crore project to construct a bullet railway station at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

According to ECI, the company purchased the highest amount of bonds amounting to Rs 140 crore next month, in April 2023.

According to an earlier statement by the company, MEIL had bagged the Rs 4,358-crore Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh in November 2019 through a reverse bidding process initiated by the Andhra Pradesh government.

MEIL purchased bonds worth Rs 5 crore in October 2019, ECI data showed.

The company also has several projects in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

It also donated money to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BRS), which was in power in Telangana until recently. BRS, formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi, received a donation of Rs 195 crore from the company.

MEIL donated bonds worth Rs 85 crore to the DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, and Rs 37 crore to the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP got about Rs 25 crore from the company, while the Congress got Rs 17 crore.

JD(S), Jana Sena Party and JD(U) received smaller amounts ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore from the company.

We asked the company for its reaction to this development, but still haven’t heard back.

The private, unlisted company was founded in 1989 by industrialist Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy as Megha Engineering Enterprises to produce pipes for municipalities.

In 2006, the company changed its name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure and continues to implement large infrastructure projects such as dams, gas distribution networks, power plants and roads.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)