PremiumCBI said a case was registered against alleging that the public servant in conspiracy with others was involved in extending favours to the said private company, for various works including preparation of inflated bills, early clearing of bills, PVC among others related to contracts of PGCIL, in lieu of demand & acceptance of illegal gratification
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NEW DELHI : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an Executive Director of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) and officials of Tata Projects over alleged corruption in a Power Grid project in the northeast.
The arrested people are Bimlendu Shekhar Jha, Executive Director, Power Grid Corporation of India, Itanagar, Desh Raj Pathak, Executive Vice President & Head (Transmission & Distribution), Tata Projects Limited, R.N. Singh, Assistant Vice President & Business Head- Distribution, Tata Projects, Nafeej Hussain Khan, RPM, M/s. Tata Projects, and two other employees of Tata Projects, Randheer Kumar Singh and Sandeep Kumar Dubey, officials said.
A statement from CBI said that a case was registered against alleging that the public servant in conspiracy with others was involved in extending favours to the said private company, for various works including preparation of inflated bills, early clearing of bills, PVC (Price Variation Clause) among others related to contracts of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, in lieu of demand & acceptance of illegal gratification.
“It was further alleged that the said company has bagged tenders, pertaining to a comprehensive scheme for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, from Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd," said the statement.
The arrests were made after searches were conducted at 11 premises of the accused officials located in Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad which led to recovery of numerous incriminating documents, materials, digital devices and others. Cash of around ₹93 lakh was recovered from Jha’s residence, according the investigating agency.
The arrested accused were produced today before the court of special judge, CBI cases, Panchkula (Haryana) and were remanded to police custody up to July 15, 2022.
Officials said that CBI had received information that the Power Grid ED was allegedly taking bribe from officials with Tata Projects and other companies for granting favours. Tata Projects was given contracts under North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project. The World Bank funded project aims to increase the delivery of electricity at the boundaries of the power distribution network in the participating the North Eastern Region.
According to the World Bank’s website, the total cost of the project is $952.20 million, and the agencies of World Bank, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) have jointly committed $470 billion. The Centre, World Bank and the northeastern states signed the $470 million loan agreement in 2016 and the project is scheduled to operate till March 2023.
Responding to a query from Mint, a Tata Projects spokespersons said: “We adhere to strong norms in all our business transactions and have zero tolerance to any compromise on the same. We would extend our complete support to the relevant authorities."
Queries sent to the Power Grid, the union ministry of power under which the PSU operates remained unanswered till press time.