Winning Bizness Desk
Mumbai. More trouble is looming over Adani Group as the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has sought permission from the Supreme Court to restart the investigation. Agency has said that it will be allowed to collect evidence related to the case from Singapore. According to a report, the investigating agency wants to obtain documents related to the transactions of Adani Group from Singapore authorities since 2016. DRI believes that the group got higher bills for several shipments of coal imported from an Indonesian supplier through Singapore's Adani Global Pte. Court documents show that Gautam Adani's companies have succeeded in preventing the release of documents related to this case in Singapore and India through legal process. Meanwhile, Adani Group has rejected all allegations related to rigging in coal prices. The group said the Financial Times story is based on old and baseless allegations. This is recycling of publicly available facts and information.
Imported coal at a lower rate and showed higher prices
A report has revealed that Adani Group imported coal from Indonesia at a lower rate and showed higher prices by falsifying the bills. Due to this, the group sold the electricity generated from coal to the customers at a higher price. They examined 30 coal shipments imported from Indonesia to India through Adani Group in the 32 months between 2019 and 2021. In the import records of all these shipments, prices were found to be higher than the export declaration. The value of combined shipments during import was increased by more than ₹ 582 crore.
DRI started investigating this case in 2014
According to the report, DRI started investigating the case in 2014, in which 40 companies were involved. The investigating agency had alleged that companies importing Indonesian coal were overcharging on deliveries by showing shipment bills sent through middlemen in places including Singapore. The investigating officers reviewed 1300 shipments belonging to Adani Group companies and alleged that the price of coal was inflated while importing as compared to exporting from Indonesia. The objective behind this was to sell electricity at an expensive price in the country and grab money.
Bombay High Court had stayed on the investigation.
On Adani Group's challenge, the Bombay High Court in 2019 had rejected its request to collect evidence against it, citing procedural flaws. A few days later, the agency appealed to the Supreme Court regarding this, when the apex court stayed the High Court's decision and allowed the investigation. After this, in 2020, on the demand of Adani Group, the Singapore court had said that the documents related to this should not be released yet because the top court of India has not reached the final decision.
