Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav has come under a cloud for allegedly allowing sweetheart deals to three of his close friends on the State Exchequer's tab during his regime. The most glaring among these is the allotment of a Rs 1,200 crore seven-star rated state government owned building to one of his builder friend Arun Agarwal, on a 15-year lease for an annual rent of Rs 3.15 crore, even before the construction was complete.
The former CM inaugurated the incomplete project on October 11, 2016, allegedly so the lease agreement could be legally signed and executed during his tenure. Agarwal is the Director of Fortuna Builders and heads as many as 45 other companies.
As per the lease agreement, Agarwal's company was to pay an annual rent of Rs 3.15 crore to the government from annual revenues, and 18 per cent of the total earnings when the turnover increases. "Once completed and functional, JPNIC will earn no less than Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh a day. Clearly, the builder would mint money at the cost of the government. "Moreover, how can he be allowed to be the owner of a state government building for 15 years," says a senior LDA officer requesting anonymity.
Not only this, Akhilesh is also accused of giving the contract for the architectural designing to Archohm, a company owned by another of his childhood friends, Sourabh Gupta.
To benefit yet another friend, the construction work was allotted to M/S Shalimar, a company owned by Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Seth, who is equally close to Akhilesh Yadav and his cousin Prateek Yadav.
Mulayam Singh Yadav's second son Prateek, who runs a gym, is also in the real estate business. Prateek has allegedly made huge investments in M/S Shalimar and is believed to be a silent partner. Seth's company is also believed to have done Rs 25 crore of renovation and interior work at Akhilesh Yadav's new home at 4-A Vikramaditya Marg, also at the cost of the state exchequer.
The new BJP government has already ordered a probe into the JPNIC scam and directed LDA Vice-Chairman Satyendra Singh Yadav to investigate.
"....I am not satisfied by the designing and construction works and would recommend blacklisting of these two companies (Archohm and M/S Shalimar) in my report to the Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath)," Singh said.
A FRIEND INDEED...
The cost of Jai Prakash Narain International Centre was initially estimated at Rs 167 crore in 2013 but has gone up to Rs 865 crore since. It is the first govt-owned building in UP to have a seven-star rating.
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