Hyderabad: MEIL to spend Rs 200 cr for constructing Skills University

The MoU was signed in the presence of chief secretary Santhi Kumari, special chief secretary Jayesh Ranjan and the vice-chancellor of the university VLVSS Subbarao

Hyderabad: Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) has pledged Rs 200 crore under its corporate social responsibility (CSR), for the construction of all the buildings in the state government’s ambitious project of establishing Young India Skills University in Meerkhanpet of Kandukur mandal on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was entered between the university and MEIL on Saturday, October 26, when the company’s MD Krishna Reddy met chief minister A Revanth Reddy at Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat.

The MoU was signed in the presence of chief secretary Santhi Kumari, special chief secretary Jayesh Ranjan and the vice-chancellor of the university VLVSS Subbarao.

The company’s management has announced that it will construct the Skills University with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities of world-class standards.

Krishna Reddy said that his company will also construct the hostel buildings along with the academic blocks, workshops and classrooms.

The models and designs of the university buildings which have already been prepared by the architects were presented in the meeting.

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The chief minister asked the officials to finalise the building designs within a week and also to make arrangements to start the construction of the university buildings beginning from November 8.

Congratulating MEIL for coming forward to construct the university campus with its CSR funds, the chief minister has assured all support for the initiative on behalf of the state government.

In August, CM Revanth Reddy performed bhumi puja’ for the construction of the Young India Skills University on 57 acres of land near Meerkhanpet in Kandukur mandal.

The government has decided to take up the construction of the campus, provide all the facilities including advanced teaching facilities to the students, and commence its academic operations in the coming year.

MEIL and electoral bonds

MEIL had emerged as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds by donating the highest amount of about Rs 586 crore to the BJP, according to the data released by the Election Commission on March 21.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had in March registered an FIR against MEIL which was the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds worth Rs 966 crore, in an alleged bribery case.

The company had also donated Rs 195 crore to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Rs 85 crore to Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga (DMK), and Rs 37 crore to Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). The Telugu Desam party (TDP) received about Rs 25 crore from the company, while the Congress got Rs 17 crore. The JD-S, Jana Sena Party, and the JD-U got smaller sums ranging from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore from MEIL.

Before coming to power in Telangana, MEIL’s Krishna Reddy was often criticised by CM Revanth and his cabinet colleagues, who alleged that the company had siphoned tens of thousands of crores from its contracts from the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).