I'm just a common man: The story behind the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds

"As a businessman, I prefer to keep a low profile and let my work do the talking. It’s only over the last few weeks that we have been in the news (referring to the electoral bonds issue) and that has put a lot of attention on me and the organisation. Else, it is work as usual," Venkatakrishna Reddy Puritipati told BT.

"There is no stress in my life," says the MD of the closely-held Megha Engineering that has been in the news ever since it was revealed as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds (worth Rs 966 crore) between 2019 and 2023.

According to a CRISIL report, Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited (MEIL) is India's second-largest EPC player by revenue and the largest in irrigation and drinking water works.

As an EPC or engineering, procurement, and construction company, MEIL also does projects in hydrocarbons, roads, power, buildings, railways, electric vehicles, and city gas distribution. 

Reddy is known in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as a smart businessman who has capitalised on the opportunities that came his way. The 53-year-old has grown the company not just in India but also in markets abroad. “I am just a common man,” he says. 

MEIL has several big and high-tech projects in the works: the 14-km Zoji-la tunnel under the Zoji-la (Zoji-pass) at an altitude of 11,575 feet in Jammu & Kashmir, the 213-km Rishikesh-Karanprayag tunnel in Uttarakhand, a new port in Andhra Pradesh’s Machilipatnam, a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad, 47 rigs for ONGC, and the railway station in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train (in a joint venture with Ajit Gulabchand’s Hindustan Construction Company). 

For an organisation of this size, Reddy runs a tight ship. MEIL had a total debt of less than Rs 5,500 crore on a consolidated basis at the end of FY23 and a debt-equity ratio of 0.25. CRISIL’s report says MEIL’s order book was Rs 1.87 lakh crore at the end of the quarter ended September 30, 2023. 

Larsen & Toubro, the big boy in the EPC business, had an order book of Rs 4.7 lakh crore at the end of the quarter ended December 31, 2023, with its international business accounting for 39 percent.

Reddy says MEIL’s books are transparent. “People would like to interpret our growth in many ways. In India, many companies have won large projects, and I am just one of them,” he emphasises, adding that all bids are also open to foreign companies. “In a world of e-procurement, one can bid from anywhere, and a process must be followed. I don’t like to get worked up about what people say.” 

His optimism on India’s technological prowess is clear, and he believes no country “can beat us on that, hard work, involvement and talent”.

His message to the team is: build your project the way you would build your home, with the same attention to quality and finishing. 

Reddy says his biggest skill is high-quality execution within timelines. “The Zoji-la project is 50 percent done, and we are very happy with the progress. You must look at our factories in India and worldwide to understand our execution skills and the employment we generate,” he says. "We look at our job as a way to build for society and create high levels of employment. If you take the number of people who are provided direct and indirect employment by our organisation, that number will easily exceed 500,000."

The MD highlights the timely execution of the company's projects as one of the reasons behind its success. "Every project of ours is completed before schedule. That is very important for us. The secret is all about good execution. You can say we are obsessed about it," he stressed.

Reddy cites the Bandra Kurla Complex station project win as an example. “You will not win projects otherwise,” he says.

Getting the pricing right is MEIL’s strong point. And it claims to do so without cutting corners on technology or quality of work.

The Megha MD is upbeat on the prospect of AI. "The game has changed dramatically. AI is necessary today and one must make that a strategic advantage," he said. "For example, using AI, I can say how much radiation is generated. That becomes very useful in our solar business and with live updates, it becomes possible to course correct. Likewise, with construction projects, I can see things as they progress and that helps in meeting deadlines," he emphasised.

Speaking on how challenging a business can be at various levels, Reddy smiles and confidently says there is a solution for each problem. "Without a problem, there is no solution. At Megha, our success lies in finding a solution."