Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president and former MAUD Minister K.T. Rama Rao, an accused in the FIR registered in the Formula E race case, appeared before Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Hyderabad on Thursday (January 16, 2025).
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Hyderabad on Thursday (January 16) in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Formula-E race case.
Public and media personnel gathered outside the ED headquarters in Basheerbagh as the former minister arrived at 10.40 a.m. Mr. Rao was earlier asked to appear before the ED on January 7, 2025. However, on his request via email, ED gave him time till January 16.
Interestingly, Mr. Rao, who is the prime accused in the case, is the last one to be questioned by the ED in the case. Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and former chief engineer of Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), B.L.N. Reddy were questioned earlier.
This follows the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on December 19, 2024. The FIR was based on a complaint by principal secretary M. Dana Kishore, alleging irregularities in payments exceeding ₹54.88 crore during the Formula E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023.
According to the FIR, the HMDA made payments to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) and associated entities without following established financial procedures. The complaint stated that ₹45.7 crore was remitted to FEO between September and October 2023, despite FEO terminating its agreement with the Telangana government in the same period. Additionally, the payments incurred a tax burden of ₹8.06 crore, which was borne by HMDA.
A tripartite agreement signed in October 2022 between the Telangana government, FEO, and Ace Nxt Gen Pvt. Ltd., the sponsor, had limited the State government’s financial liability. However, the FIR alleges that when disputes arose between FEO and Ace Nxt Gen Pvt. Ltd., the government assumed financial responsibility, bypassing regulatory approvals and causing a loss to the exchequer.
Published – January 16, 2025 11:41 am IST
