The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked Adani Enterprises and three senior officials of the National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India (NCCF) for rigging an imported coal supply tender to favour the company.
The CBI has levied allegations of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct by public servants.
Virender Singh, the then Chairman; GP Gupta, the then Managing Director; and SC Singhal, then Senior Advisor at NCCF, New Delhi; and Adani Enterprises have been named in the First Information Report (FIR).
According to the FIR, the accused had rigged the award of contract for supply of imported coal to Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO) during July 2010. The tender sought supply of 6 lakhs tonnes of coal on free-on-rail destination basis to Dr Narla Tata Rao Thermal Power Station, Vijayawada and Rayalseema Therma Power Plant, Kadapa from any port.
The FIR said that Adani Enterprises was awarded the tender for supply of imported coal even though they initially quoted nil trading margin for NCCF. This was despite two other bidders that had quoted much higher trading margins for NCCF.
The CBI alleges that “post tender negotiation was done by senior officials of NCCF to give undue favour to Adani Enterprises”.
According to the CBI FIR, “Adani Enterprises did not qualify when the tender was opened at Hyderabad Branch. Instead of cancelling the bid of Adani Enterprises, senior management of NCCF conveyed the offer margin of NCCF to Adani Enterprises, through one of its representatives, who was sitting in the NCCF Office”.
“It is prima-facie evident that when the bids were processed at NCCF head office in New Delhi, the representative of Adani Enterprises was informed regarding their imminent rejection due to non submission of NCCL and also that MBCl, the eligible bidder has quoted 2.25 per cent margin,” the CBI FIR said.
The CBI said that Adani Enterprises agreed to pay the minimum service margin/charges at 2.25 per cent to NCCF after these post-tender negotiations.