Delhi Jal Board corruption case: ED raids in 4 cities; cash, documents seized

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Delhi Zonal Office, conducted search operations on July 3 at various locations in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Hyderabad in connection with the Sewage Treatment Plant corruption case of Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

During the search operations, cash amounting to Rs 41 lakhs, various incriminating documents and digital evidence were found and seized.

The ED initiated investigations on the basis of FIR registered by ACB, GNCTD, New Delhi against Euroteck Environmental Pvt Ltd and others under various sections of IPC, 1860 and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 alleging scam in DJB in the name of augmentation and upgradation of 10 Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) at Pappankala, Nilothi [Package 1], Najafgarh, Keshopur [Package 2], Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini [Package 3] and Kondli [Package 4].

Discrepancies in the tender process

The four tenders valuing Rs 1,943 crores were awarded to various joint venture entities in October 2022. The FIR alleged that only three joint venture companies (JVs) participated in all four tenders.

While 2 JVs got one tender each, 1 JV got 2 tenders. The 3 JVs participated in the four STP tenders mutually to ensure that each one got the tender. The FIR alleged that the tendering conditions were made restrictive including the adoption of IFAS technology to ensure that a select few entities could participate in the four tenders. The cost estimate initially prepared was Rs 1,546 crores but was revised during the tender process to Rs 1,943 crores. It was further alleged that the contracts were awarded to 3 JVs at inflated rates which caused substantive loss to the exchequer.

The ED investigation revealed that the four tenders related to STPs valuing Rs 1,943 crores were awarded by DJB to 3 JVs. In all four tenders, 2 JVs (out of 3 common JVs) participated in each tender and all the 3 JVs secured the tenders.

The costs adopted by DJB for upgradation and augmentation were the same though the cost of upgradation is lesser than the cost for augmentation. Further investigations show that all the 3 JVs submitted the same experience certificate issued from a Taiwan Project to DJB for securing the tenders and the same was accepted without any verifications.

Thereafter, all the 3 JVs subcontracted the work related to the four tenders to Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd, Hyderabad. The verification of the tender documents shows that the initial cost of four tenders was about Rs 1,546 crores which was revised to Rs 1,943 crores without following due process/ project reports.