New Delhi, December 7: India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a supplementary chargesheet against Reliance Power Ltd and several associated entities and executives in a case involving allegedly fraudulent bank guarantees submitted to secure a major renewable energy tender.
The case stems from a November 2024 complaint filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) after the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) alleged that Reliance NU BESS Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, submitted fake bank guarantees as part of a bid for setting up 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh standalone battery energy storage projects.
The chargesheet names Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd; Amar Nath Dutta of Biothane Chemicals; Ravinder Pal Singh Chadha of Reliance NU BESS; Manoj Bhaiyasaheb Pongde of Rosa Power Supply Company; former Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal; and senior group executive Punit Narendra Garg, agency officials said.
According to the ED, Reliance Power hired Biswal Tradelink, described as a shell entity, to arrange fake bank guarantees purportedly issued by FirstRand Bank in Manila—where no such branch exists—and by ACE Investment Bank in Malaysia. The agency said the endorsements were supported using a spoofed email address resembling that of the State Bank of India and forged endorsement letters.
The ₹68.2 crore guarantee was required under SECI’s tender rules. The ED alleged that Reliance Power routed ₹6.33 crore from its subsidiary, Rosa Power Supply Company, to Biswal Tradelink under the guise of transportation services to fund the forged guarantee. Fake work orders and invoices were generated to support the transactions, it said.
After the fake guarantees were arranged, Biswal Tradelink received ₹5.40 crore to give the appearance of a legitimate commercial deal, the ED added. The agency also alleged that Reliance group officials knew the guarantees and endorsements were fraudulent.
When SECI detected the irregularities, Reliance Group arranged a genuine guarantee from IDBI Bank within a day, but SECI declined to accept it. As Reliance NU BESS had emerged as the second-lowest (L-2) bidder, officials then attempted to obtain fresh endorsement of the fake foreign guarantee from an SBI branch in Kolkata, the ED said.
The investigation is continuing, the agency said.
