Scam Andhra - Implosion: India's Tryst with Reality - page 263

The leaked US cable said that an economist who had been studying the effectiveness of
the state government's programmes had reported that 'with only four to five companies ex-
ecuting the projects through numerous subcontractors and little oversight, there are many
opportunities for graft in the irrigation schemes'. India's Comptroller and Auditor-General
criticized cost and time over-runs in a report, which was submitted to the government early
in February 2013. 47 None of the contractors had met project completion dates, and only 16
out of the 86 projects had been finished. In a draft report submitted in July 2012, the CAG
said that the state had neither enough funds nor water to implement the plans. 48 Jalayagnam
appeared to consist of a large number of contracts that were awarded without any assurance
on the completion of works within specificed time periods and budgets, said the report. On
one project, four firms obtained 16 contracts worth Rs 22,885 crore by forming joint ven-
tures in 16 different combinations.
Jagan's Companies
Jagan Reddy entered business in 2001, taking over the Bengalurubased Sandur Power
Company, which handled small-scale power generation and distribution projects. By 2008,
four years after YSR became chief minister, Sandur had spun off an investment company
and expanded into real estate and other ventures including Jagan's Jagati Publica-
tions. 49 Working with his father, Jagan built up a media, cement and mining (the family's
original business area) empire, including Sakshi TV, Bharathi Cement and Raghuram Ce-
ment in addition to Sandur and Jagati.
Along with other key companies that he controlled with investments totalling Rs 797
crore, Jagati Publications became a focal point in 2012 and 2013 for investigations into
money laundering by India's Enforcement Directorate, and for separate corruption inquir-
ies by the CBI into Jagan's alleged 'disproportionate assets'. Companies caught up in the
assets case included Tamil Nadu-based India Cements, run by N. Srinivasan, who has been
a dominant figure in the politics of Indian cricket as the chairman of the Board of Con-
trol for Cricket in India (BCCI) from 2011. He was also involved in the IPL championship
controversies as chairman of Chennai Superkings, one of the teams. The CBI alleged that
India Cements had invested Rs 100 crore in Raghuram Cements and Rs 40 crore in other
Jagan companies and, in return, was allowed by the Andhra Pradesh government to draw
additional river water for cement manufacturing plants and also received a favourable lime-
stone mining lease in YSR family's base of Kadapa. 50
The allegations were published by Chandrababu Naidu's TDP. on the party's website 51
with companies such as Matrix Group, Penna Cements, Ramky Group, Aurobindo Pharma,
Hetero Group and Mantri Developers listed as allegedly providing funds for Bharathi Ce-
ment, Jagati Publications, Carmel Asia Holdings and other businesses run by Jagan, and