CBI books 3 firms for cheating CCL of over Rs 24 crore

The CBI has registered a case against three companies - Rungta Mines, Adhunik Alloys and Power, and Jai Balaji Industries for allegedly cheating Central Coalfields Limited to the tune of Rs 24.53 crore.
The then General Manager Rajiv Gupta of the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) has also been booked for allegedly being part of the criminal conspiracy to cheat the public sector undertaking and graft.
It is alleged that Gupta during his tenure between 2010 and 2015 issued coal to the companies beyond their limits prescribed in fuel supply agreement entered with them by CCL, under tapering linkage, without collecting add-on price thus causing a loss of Rs 24.53 crore.

The tapering linkage is a short term arrangement provided to coal purchasing companies who have been allocated captive coal blocks for their plants.
Rungta Mines, and Adhunik Alloys and Power had entered into fuel supply agreement for normal supply with the CCL on February 27, 2009 while and Jai Balaji Industries had signed it on April 30, 2008.
According to the guidelines of the short-term linkages every company which is allotted a coal block is bound to intimate to Coal India, but with mala fide intention none of the three companies intimated the public sector undertaking regarding allotment of coal blocks and continued to receive coal supply under normal linkage and evaded conversion in tapering linkages, the CBI has alleged.

The coal controller had intimated Coal India on August 9, 2010 mentioning that the three companies were allocated coal blocks which Gupta came to know about on August 26, 2010.

"Immediately thereafter, tapering linkage agreement should have been signed by concerned authority of the CCL, with these firms but the agreement for tapering linkage with the three companies named herein was not signed," the FIR alleged.
After Coal Ministry swung into action in November, 2011 and asked Coal India Limited about conversion of normal linkage into tapering linkages, Jai Balaji signed fuel supply agreement (FSA) with tapering linkage in February, 2012.

However, Rungta Mines and Adhunik Alloys did not sign FSA with tapering linkage with CCL.
It alleged that in the absence of FSA with tapering linkages, excess coal was being supplied by CCL without tapering the supply after the normative date of production.
The coal was also being supplied by CCL to these three firms at notified price without charging the add-on price, the FIR alleged.
It is further alleged that Gupta with "dishonest intentions" allowed these companies to lift coal as per normal fuel supply agreement without charging add-on price causing wrongful loss to the CCL and corresponding wrongful gain to the suspect firms to the extent of Rs 24.53 crore.

"It is learnt that out of the above amount of Rs 24.53 crore, about Rs 16 crore have been recovered during the year 2015-16, when the matter came to light, however, by then the offence had already been completed," the FIR alleged.