Revanth Reddy’s Government Has Entered Its 15% Era

The Revanth Reddy government has unveiled a fresh model of administration: announce the road first, explain the tender later, and treat transparency as an optional shoulder lane. Radial Road-2 is an 81.15-kilometre, ₹3,296-crore project from Kothwalguda–Budwel towards NH-167N near Nacharam. Sushee Infra told the Telangana High Court its bid was about ₹600 crore lower than the successful bidder’s. The court did not halt the process. The question did not disappear with the traffic.

The comparative bid sheet, which might explain why the cheaper bidder lost, has not become public. This is where the government’s vocabulary becomes useful. “Technical qualification” is the official phrase. The public version is simpler: the lower bid is in court, the paperwork is behind glass, and everyone is expected to admire the flyover before checking the bill. A government confident in its process would publish the comparison and finish the argument. The Revanth Reddy administration has instead made a road project into a guided tour of its own paperwork anxiety.

Then came the allegation from RVM Constructions to the Builders Association of India: contractors were allegedly being asked for a 15% commission for project awards and even for pending bill releases. The letter also alleged that nearly ₹20,000 crore owed to contractors had been held up, in some cases for more than three years. These are allegations, not findings. They require an investigation, documents and a clear response from the government. But a 15% claim attached to a ₹3,296-crore project is not a rumour to be buried under a press release. It is an alarm bell with an invoice number.

Congress came to power promising clean governance after years of denouncing opaque deals and concentrated influence. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy built much of his public identity as the man who would expose the old system. His government is now being asked a basic question: if the cheaper bid was rejected, where is the record that explains it? Instead of answering plainly, the administration appears to be asking Telangana to trust the process because the process says it is trustworthy. That is not reform. That is self-certification.

Telangana did not elect a government to turn every road into a credibility test. This ministry is not performing the office; it is staging confidence around the missing paperwork. The road may eventually be built. Transparency is still at the tender stage.