In the biggest financial scam of the nine-year-old state of Jharkhand, “dial M for money” didn’t only mean mining leases for Madhu Koda and company, but megawatts too.
Income-tax officials are now examining various electrification tenders awarded during Madhu Koda’s regime and top sources in the Ranchi I-T office suggest they have already found some anomalies. In many of the cases, the Income Tax Department, engaged in probing a multi-crore disproportionate assets case against the former Jharkhand chief minister and his aides, has found a common pattern: The tenders were regularly revised as only a handful of contractors appeared for the job.
The Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification Project, a pet project of the United progressive Alliance (UPA) government, saw an upward revision of Rs 261.32 crore in its tenders between October 2006 and January 2007 alone (see table). Madhu Koda was the chief minister from September 2006 to August 2008. When he came to the CM’s chair, the tenders were already announced. Koda, who had kept the power portfolio with him, changed the Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) chief and revised old tenders.
“We have heard many complaints that suggest Binod Sinha—a long-time associate of Koda— used to control these tenders. Normally, they used to charge a hefty commission on the revised amount,” an I-T official told Business Standard.
JSEB’s own electrification mission, APDRP, too saw an upward revision of project estimates under Koda’s regime. Initially it was estimated at Rs 74.24 crore, but Koda government pushed it up to Rs 159.17 crore (see table).
During the entire tenure of Madhu Koda, JSEB issued tenders worth Rs 1,440 crore to various parties. “Apart from the mining leases, we are looking at the electricity contracts given during Madhu Koda’s time,” I-T Additional Commissioner (investigations) Ajit Srivastava said.
Binod Sinha had apparently set his own ‘electricity board’ at a flat near the Ranchi airport to evaluate all the project proposals. “He had employed three engineers—Surajmani Singh, Rohit Kumar and B K Singh—to look into the government files according to reports received by us. Some contractors told us that JSEB was reduced to a rubber stamp and no tender was given without the consent of Binod Sinha,” said another I-T brass.
