Electoral Bonds: A close watch on Navayuga Engineering and Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital

As per the order of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released detailed data on electoral bonds on Thursday. The list revealed contributors to political parties as per the Electoral Bonds Scheme, the period covered is between 2019 and 2024.

The data published by the EC indicated that 1,260 companies and individuals purchased electoral bonds amounting to ₹12,769 crore.

CNBC-TV18 is closely analysing electoral bonds purchased by two firms Navayuga Engineering Co and Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital. While Navayuga Engineering purchased bonds worth ₹55 crore and Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital paid ₹162 crore.

According to reports, Navayuga Engineering Co and Adani Enterprises incorporated a new company, Vijayawada Bypass Project (VBPPL) on May 15, 2020. Adani Enterprises is the major holder of the company with a ratio of 74:26.

VBPPL was incorporated to carry out the development, maintenance and management of six lanes of Vijayawada Bypass from Gollapudi to Chinnakakani. This also included a major bridge across the Krishna River in Vijayawada, the Gundugolanu section of NH-16 under Bharatmala Pariyojana on hybrid annuity mode (Package-IV).

Moreover, the same company was also involved in the construction of the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi. A portion of the same tunnel collapsed on November 12, 2023, and over 41 construction workers were trapped for 16 days. Even during the collapse, there were rumours about Navayuga Engineering Co. having close links to Gautam Adani-led Adani Enterprises. However, in the past, Adani Enterprises has denied these claims.

Our analysis also revealed that the directors of Vijayawada Bypass Project Private Limited include Polisetty Viswanadh, Parijat Mondal and Natraj Baburao Mulgund. Moreover, from a simple Google search, one can also clearly see Adani’s logo on the VBPPL website.

The ECI data revealed that Navayuga Engineering Company Limited purchased 30 bonds worth ₹1 crore each on April 18, 2019. About 15 electoral bonds worth ₹1 crore each were purchased on October 10, 2019, and 10 electoral bonds worth ₹1 crore each were purchased on October 10, 2022. That makes a total investment of ₹55 crore in three tranches.

Reports suggest that Navayuga was also raided by Income Tax sleuths in October 2018. Over the years, the company has won several contracts, which include a tunnel in Char Dham, the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail link project in November 2020 and the Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, among others.

Chinta Visweswara Rao is the Executive Chairman of Navayuga Engineering, while Chinta Sridhar is the MD of the company and Sachin Kumar Bhansali is the ED and CFO. Independent Directors include Gummadi Raghavendra Rao and Sailaja Moturu. Whole Time Directors include Ramesh Yedduri and Chinta Govind Viswesh.

Hyderabad-based Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital was one of the top electoral bond purchasers in the healthcare and pharma sector. The hospital chain purchased ₹162 crore of electoral bonds.

Interestingly, Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital and the residences of its directors were raided by Income Tax officials on December 24, 2020. G Ravender Rao is the Chairman of the hospital, Dr G Surender Rao is the Managing Director and G Devender Rao is the Director.

CNBC-TV 18 has reached out to Adani Enterprises, Navayuga Engineering Company Limited and Yashoda Super-Speciality Hospital seeking a comment. By the time of filing, CNBC-TV18 has not received any replies.