Rural mandate, Bengaluru work: KRIDL doubles turnover

A state-run agency notorious for having been blacklisted in the past has raised eyebrows by almost doubling its turnover in the last five years while posting a 175% increase in profits.

Although its mandate is rural infrastructure, nearly half of the turnover of the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd (KRIDL) came from Bengaluru in the 2019-20 fiscal.

Rising turnover, profits

According to official figures, the KRIDL took up works worth Rs 3,853.91 crore in the previous fiscal whereas its target was Rs 3,425 crore. In Bengaluru’s municipal limits, KRIDL bagged works such as asphalting of roads and drain improvements worth Rs 1,891.40 crore, 171% more than the Rs 1,100 crore target.

Its profit after tax is steadily increasing - from Rs 109 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 300 crore last year.

These figures have baffled officials in the Rural Development & Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department under which KRIDL functions. “For all other departments, the KRIDL does work against advance payment. For BBMP, they do work without any advance. This is something that we have been objecting. But political influence is brought to bear,” a senior official pointed out.

The KRIDL is a favourite among many legislators, because no tendering is required while awarding works to the agency. “Works given to KRIDL need not be tendered as they are supposed to do the work themselves. Since they are taking on so much of workload, they can’t obviously do the work themselves,” the official said.

A legislator from Kalaburagi district, requesting anonymity, said works assigned to KRIDL can be handed out to contractors picked by MLAs. Apparently, the handing out of works to contractors happens informally - no paper work is done.

In October 2018, the social welfare department had blacklisted KRIDL for shoddy work. Even the BBMP had, in 2010, blacklisted the agency for poor road work. In 2015, a probe found that hundreds of crores of public money had been illegally parked in the personal accounts of KRIDL officials.

KRIDL was set up in 1971 as the Directorate of Land Army. It was renamed as KRIDL in 2008 with the objective of taking up rural development by eliminating middlemen. “It started with good, capable army personnel headed by Brigadier Mallappa,” former additional chief secretary V Balasubramanian said.

‘Wind it up’

“It worked well, but over time tenders were exempted, which is a violation of general principles that govern public works. As a result, it has been scandal-driven. Either wind it up or change its procedure.”