Formula-E case: ACB submits final report to government

The Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has submitted a prosecution report to the State government in connection with the Formula-E racing case on Tuesday (September 9), in which former Minister K.T. Rama Rao is the prime accused.

Officials said that a chargesheet against the accused officials is likely to be filed once the government grants permission. This follows extensive quizzing of all the three accused officials, which began in January 2025 and continued until July.

The case dates back to October 18, 2024, when M. Dana Kishore, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD), lodged a complaint alleging a loss of ₹54.88 crore to the exchequer. The complaint accused the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) of releasing payments to Formula-E Operations Limited (FEO) without mandatory approvals from the Cabinet or the Finance department.

Subsequently, on December 19, 2024, the ACB booked a case against Mr. Rama Rao, former special chief secretary to the government, MAUD department Arvind Kumar and former Chief Engineer of HMDA B.L.N. Reddy.

According to the FIR, ₹45.7 crore was transferred to FEO between September and October 2023, even though the company had already terminated its agreement with the Telangana government. The payment, investigators said, also led to an additional tax burden of ₹8.06 crore, absorbed by the HMDA.

The ACB further pointed out that a tripartite agreement signed in October 2022 between the Telangana government, FEO and event sponsor Ace Nxt Gen Pvt. Ltd. had capped the government’s financial liability. However, disputes between FEO and Ace Nxt Gen allegedly pushed the State into assuming financial responsibility without regulatory approval, resulting in significant losses.