Officials of the Income Tax department made a surprising inspection in the office of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) in Hyderabad on Friday, triggering wide speculations in the social media.
MEIL, which has executed major projects across the country, including the mega lift irrigation project of Kaleshwaram in Telangana, has recently bagged the contract for executing prestigious Polavaram lift irrigation by project in Andhra by quoting 12 per cent less than the initial bench mark price.
There were speculations that the IT inspections on Megha Engineering were the result of the complaints lodged by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders over the alleged favouritism extended to the company by the Telangana and Andhra governments.
However, the MEIL authorities clarified later that the income tax department officials had come to MEIL’s office for a routine inspection, which happens on a regular interval basis.
“This was not a raid or a search but a routine inspection. Once in two years, Income Tax officials visit the office for a routine inspection and it has been happening for the past 20 years,” a company spokesman said.
The inspection is limited to only the head office in Hyderabad, not all regional offices.
“We have 17 regional offices across India. Since we pay advance taxes, the IT department needed some clarifications; so, the officials visited our head office today. Not anywhere in regional offices. This is purely a matter of internal assessment,” the spokesman said, appealing to the people not to believe any speculations.
