Kaleshwaram Project: Telangana CM orders CBI probe into alleged irregularities

Hyderabad: In a dramatic late-night announcement that stretched the assembly session, after a one-and-a-half-hour speech till 1.40 AM, Telangana Chief Minister (CM) Revanth Reddy announced in the assembly that the Kaleshwaram case would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to punish the guilty. The decision follows the submission of a damning report by the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission, which uncovered severe irregularities in the project's planning and execution.

Going further into the details, the Telangana government has already constituted former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh Commission to investigate the alleged irregularities, misuse of public funds, and corruption in the construction of the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages in the Kaleshwaram project.

The Ghose Commission of Inquiry submitted its report to the government on July 31, 2025. The state cabinet approved the commission's report on August 4, 2025.  The state cabinet also took the decision to table the report in the assembly and discussed it in detail. 

The Ghose Commission found several irregularities, including negligence, deliberate suppression of facts, and financial irregularities. The Commission concluded that faults took place in the construction of the three barrages. The Commission also exposed the previous BRS government's failure in preparing the plan to construct the Kaleshwaram project. 

The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report stated that the Medigadda barrage was damaged due to a lack of planning, design, and quality control deficiencies. The NDSA has identified that the defects in the construction were due to poor quality and maintenance. The NDSA and the Commission reports have made it clear that a deeper and more comprehensive investigation is required into all these issues.  

Inter-state entities, various departments and agencies of the Central and State Governments are involved in this project. Since Central Public Sector Undertakings like WAPCOS and financial institutions like PFC and REC are involved in the design, construction, and financing of the project, the government decided to hand over this case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Hence, the House took a decision to hand over the investigation of the Kaleshwaram project case to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

During the nine hour long debate on the Ghose Commission report in the assembly, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said that the Kaleshwaram Corporation was formed for the construction of the Kaleshwaram project and borrowed Rs. 85,449 crores. The previous BRS government borrowed Rs. 27,738 crores at 11.5 percent interest from the Power Finance Corporation and another Rs. 30,536 crores were borrowed at 12 percent interest. 

"We have paid Rs. 19,879 crores as the principal amount for the loans they took so far.  Rs. 29,956 crores were paid as interest to various banks.  A total of Rs. 49,835 crores have been paid to banks so far.  We still have a burden of Rs. 60,869 crores," the CM said that it required Rs. 47,000 crores to complete the leftover work in Kaleshwaram project. 

The CM noted that on October 21, 2020, the engineer filed a complaint of the damage to the barrage at Mahadevpur police station. The then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has also received a report .  Police forces were deployed around Medigadda at that time, and not even a single person was allowed to come.

The chief minister pointed out that it was KCR who shifted the barrage to Medigadda from Tummidihatti. The reason for changing the technology was the then Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao. The CM alleged that the BRS rulers swindled public money through the Kaleshwaram project. The government ordered an enquiry as per the guidelines, CM Revanth Reddy said.