Winds blew differently after CVO’s intervention
SHILLONG: NEEPCO, which is embroiled in controversies over a series of anomalies, is yet again exposed as the 100-MW murky wind project in Gujarat was prevented thanks to the intervention of former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of NEEPCO Satish Chandra Verma.
Verma had probed the allegation that the unviable project was initiated by the then CMD P.C Pankaj in collaboration with a dubious individual called Sanjay Kapoor under the pretext of a joint venture for the renewable project, with the real purpose of not completing the project but of cheating NEEPCO of crores of rupees and then declaring the project unviable.
Verma, following the vigilance probe, recommended CBI probe against Pankaj and many others.
A complaint lodged on May 26, 2014, by one R.W Shylla of Oakland in Shillong was received by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on the anomalies in the Joint Venture of NEEPCO with ECI Engineering and Construction Company Limited, Hyderabad, for the 100 MW wind energy project in Gujarat.
The CVC forwarded the matter to the Union Ministry of Power for comments on the matter and later the complaint was sent to the office of then CVO of NEEPCO Verma who probed the matter and unearthed the scam.
The report was submitted to the Union Ministry of Power and the Central Vigilance Commission in July last year.
As per the report, the project was conceptualised in 2013 and the joint venture partner ECI was chosen even though it did not qualify as per the fundamental criteria of possessing the required land (approximately 200 acres), which is the basic requirement in a wind power project.
The report said the technical and financial objections of senior officers of NEEPCO were summarily and arbitrarily overruled by Pankaj and the project was apparently unviable. ECI was solely represented by the dubious Delhi-based person Kapoor.
The land documents submitted by Kapoor and his company Metatron Danke Green Energy Pvt. Ltd.(MDGEPL) were neither in the name of Kapoor nor of Metatron Danke nor of a third person called Yogeshbhai Jaimalbhai Parmar, who had purportedly signed a land aggregation agreement with Kapoor.
Verma had also explored the antecedents of Sanjay Kapoor and his company MDGEPL after visiting Gujarat and Delhi among other places.
Verma, during his visit to Gujarat, verified certain critical facts about the JV formed by NEEPCO with ECI for the wind power. The exact location of the project was still unclear on record as sometimes a village named Boru (with no Taluka/District specified) was mentioned by Kapoor, the main person representing ECI through MDGEPL; other times a village named Meghpar (with no Taluka/District specified) was mentioned.
The purported agreement for sale of land by Yogeshbhai Jaimalbhai Parmar, resident of Bhavnagar, Gujarat, to Kapoor or MDGEPL was also verified as no progress was made on the project over the few years.
The project was approved by the NEEPCO Board without any verification of fundamental requirements. During the visit to Bhavnagar by Verma, Yogeshbhai Jaimalbhai Parmar disclosed that he had signed no agreement for sale of any land with Kapoor and that he possessed no land in Bhavanagar. Thus the whole edifice of the JV was based on a forged document submitted to NEEPCO by Kapoor and very exceptionably relied upon without any verification by Pankaj, the report said.
According to Verma, the effect of his visit to Gujarat was dramatic and immediate as Kapoor sent a mail to NEEPCO authorities stating that the project had become unviable because of high land cost and he was terminating the previous agreements with NEEPCO, stating that he would be refunding to NEEPCO the money owed by him. And the then NEEPCO chief Pankaj, who had so far pushed this project against all advice, followed suit by agreeing as the CMD of the JV to terminate the agreements made earlier.
The vigilance report pointed out that the entire exercise of forming the JV was fraudulent with the intention of taking a substantial equity contribution from NEEPCO.
ECI did not qualify and it was in bad financial state, having no capacity to make equity contributions exceeding a hundred crore rupees in this JV, the report said.
“Kapoor, the MD of MDGEPL, is a person of no reliable credentials and appears to be a facilitator/middleman for dubious deals and Pankaj was with him and was instrumental in attempting to cheat NEEPCO of substantial money,” Verma said in his report.
The probe held Pankaj, as the main responsible person and Utpal Moral, the then Director (Technical) as a willing facilitator of the CMD.
The vigilance probe recommended filing a criminal case for attempting to cheat NEEPCO by using forged documents (under sections 120B, 420/511, 465, 471 of IPC) in the CBI against Sanjay Kapoor, P.C Pankaj, Utpal Moral, and others who may be found responsible in the criminal investigation.
“A major penalty departmental inquiry against PC Pankaj is additionally recommended for deliberately wasting time and money (multiple consultancies, numerous travels to Delhi by several officers) of NEEPCO for this JV,” the report said.