Funds flow via maze into Gadkari firms

October 25, 2012
gadkari

New Delhi, October 25: The questions over the source of funds to Nitin Gadkari's Purti Power and Sugar Ltd have deepened, with investigations revealing that money flowed in from a multi-layered maze of companies registered all over India.

A TOI report on Tuesday had mentioned some two dozen companies, many with unverifiable addresses, whose directors included Gadkari's driver and astrologer.

A closer look at the documents filed with the Registrar of Companies reveals a far more intricate web, with several entities ranged behind each company.

A preliminary assessment suggests that the total number of companies and individuals involved in funding Purti through the multi-layered operation may run into more than 100. TOI investigations show that layers of companies feeding funds into Purti, which have no known financial activity or source of income, can run six deep.

Take the case of Update Mercantile which, as per official records, held 29 lakh Purti shares on September 28, 2011. Update Mercantile in turn is controlled by 39 shareholders including both Gadkari's driver Manohar Panse and accountant Kwadu Zade.

Funding pattern shows clever financial brains

The biggest shareholder in Update Mercantile is Anantika Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, a company with its address as Motlibai Wadia Building in Mumbai. With 10,000 shares, Anantika has a 9.24% stake in Update Mercantile.

Anantika Infrastructure, in turn, was owned by 13 entities in September 2011— two individuals and 11 companies. Of these 11 companies, nine are based in Kolkata and two in Delhi. One of the Delhi companies, Fast Buildwell, is registered in a flat in west Delhi's Dwarka area.

This may be baffling by itself. However, the layer of mysterious companies does not end there, and in fact deepens from there.

All the 2,72,750 shares in Fast Buildwell are held by 17 companies. Of them, 12 are based in Kolkata, four in Delhi and one in Mumbai. One of the shareholders in Fast Buildwell is a Delhi-based company called King Buildwell which is registered in Munirka village in south Delhi. King Buildwell, in turn, is controlled by two individuals based in Kolkata.

The flow of funds, through a web of companies without any known financial activity and individuals, raises several questions. The BJP has defended its president saying Gadkari is open to any investigation, while the ministry of corporate affairs says it has already started a discreet inquiry.

The funding pattern clearly shows clever financial brains behind the entire strategy. However, it is yet to be explained why amounts as little as a few lakhs were routed into Purti through such multi-layered activity.

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Agencies
January 7,2020

New Delhi, Jan 7: Services at various bank branches and ATMs are likely to be affected as hundreds of employees will go on a bank strike across the country on Wednesday.

The bank strike is part of the Bharat Bandh call given by trade unions to protest against the labour reforms and economic policies of the Central government, according to reports.

The protestors' main demand during the Bharat Bandh is that the Centre should drop the proposed labour reforms.

A Bill in this regard was passed and proposes to merge 44 labour laws into four codes -- wages, industrial relations, social security, and safe working conditions.

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News Network
January 1,2020

New Delhi, Jan 1: In the backdrop of huge losses borne by airlines, Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said the government is concerned that more airlines will shut down if predatory pricing continues. "Some predatory pricing is taking place" in airfares, the minister told reporters on Tuesday. Mr Puri however ruled out any plan by the government to regulate airfares. The remarks come amid high competition in the country's aviation sector, struggling against high fuel prices and other operating costs.

"The interesting thing that we have observed is that on Delhi-Mumbai route 20 years ago, the average fare was Rs 5,100. Today, the average fare is Rs 4,600. Some predatory pricing is taking place. It means people are selling tickets below their cost," he said.

"One of our concerns is that if there is predatory pricing, then the airlines will stop functioning. This is not Air India's problem only. Jet Airways got shut down. Before that, it was Kingfisher airline," he said.

IndiGo and SpiceJet - two of the country's biggest airlines - reported losses of Rs 1,062 crore and Rs 463 crore respectively in the second quarter of 2019-20. Other airlines have also reported losses in the quarter that ended on September 30, 2019.

Asked if predatory pricing is the reason for the ill health of the airlines, the minister said, "No, there are many reasons... Predatory pricing is one of the factors. But the profitability of an airline is dependent on (a) number of things."

Asked if the trend of predatory pricing has come down after regular discussion with the airlines, he said, "Yes, absolutely."

"It is (a) constant battle. An ideal situation from an airline's point of view is that they grow and they are also able to charge more fares. What fares they charge is their business. Our advice to them is to charge realistic fares," he added. "It should not be too high. And it is not in your business interests if you are imposing predatory fares."

The minister also said that the government is not planning to regulate fares. "No regulation. It has to be done within deregulation system.... If I put a cap on fare, the airline will start charging that cap only... that cap will become the normal fare... So, within a deregulated structure, we have to bring about an equilibrium," the minister said.

"Government, periodically, at my level or at secretary''s level, we sit down with the main aircraft operators and tell them it is in your interest not to allow such practices which undermine the civil aviation sector."

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News Network
January 10,2020

New Delhi, Jan 10: The Supreme Court while hearing petitions challenging restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday stated that the right to access the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution of India.

"It is no doubt that freedom of speech is an essential tool in a democratic setup. The freedom of Internet access is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution," a two-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana stated while reading out the judgment.

The top court said that Kashmir has seen a lot of violence and that it will try to maintain a balance between human rights and freedoms with the issue of security.

It also directed the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review the restrictive orders imposed in the region within a week. “The citizens should be provided highest security and liberty,” the apex court added.

The top court made observations and issued directions while pronouncing the verdict on a number of petitions challenging the restrictions and internet blockade imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year.

The Supreme Court had on November 27 reserved the judgment on a batch of petitions challenging restrictions imposed on communication, media and telephone services in Jammu and Kashmir pursuant to revocation of Article 370.

The court heard the petitions filed by various petitioners including Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kashmir Times editor Anuradha Bhasin.

The petitions were filed after the central government scrapped Article 370 in August and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Following this, phone lines and the internet were blocked in the region.

The government had, however, contended that it has progressively eased restrictions.

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