SAIL PROJECT SCAM: How BJP, Congress & AAP pave the way for tainted officer to become CMD, MOIL!
Political corruption is now a natural phenomenon? It is a part of day today life. Corruption does not profess a particular faith, caste or political ideology. You can’t brand a particular party or community as corrupt. Corruption is a common faith of all political parties and corrupt people by and large. Corrupt people don’t bother who is in power as they die-cast in the system.
MOIL, CMD is a very good example to this theory! How, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came together to place Suresh on the chair of CMD, MOIL? India would have been fortunate if they had come together for a noble public cause or social welfare.
Despite six-month suspension, two pending FIRs and other misconducts, Ministry got Suresh’s name cleared from ACC headed by the Prime Minister and now Solicitor General of India is defending his appointment in the Nagpur bench of the Mumbai High Court in a petition filed by Moil Janshakti Mazdoor Sangh Balaghat.
Similarly, PESB selects Soma Mondal for the post of Chairman SAIL on Aug 10, 2020 and supplies to Avon at exorbitantly low started from Oct 2020 and Project MOU with Venkatesh was signed on Oct 20, 2020. Both the cases were initiated when Soma was Director (Commercial) and just before she takes charge of Chairman SAIL on Jan 01, 2021. Despite the fact that both complaints were with PMO as early as Dec 03, 2022, she was appointed as Member PESB in Feb 2023 by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet.
Whether there is dearth of ‘Real Talent’ in our vast country or Government recognises Corruption as the ‘Real Talent’?
Was it the ladder or escalator or lift or flight which took Suresh to MOIL’s top?
Avon’s Ladder
Despite an old hand on SWR14 Blooms and on business dynamics between SWR14 Blooms and Hot Rolled Coils, being the Branch Manager of Ludhiana Branch from 2003 to 2007, V Suresh as Regional Manager of Northern Region of SAIL-CMO started selling the Blooms to Ludhiana based firm Avon Steel Industries Private Limited at exorbitantly low prices. SAIL end up selling about 2,65,000 T of such Blooms to Avon and as a consequence lost about Rs 370 Crores. FIR No.RC2182025A0015 in the matter has been registered by CBI on July 25, 2025. Please click the link below to know complete details of the case.
Congress’s Lift
It was under Suresh’s Regional Managership a Project MOU for supply of 1,50,000 T of steel at discounted prices in the name of project was signed on Oct 12, 2020 with VENKATESH INFRA PROJECTS P LTD which was incorporated on Oct 12, 2020 only. Million-dollar question here was how and from where the firm with no past experience got the projects within 8 days of its incorporation where they can use such huge quantity of 1,50,000 T of steel in one year. Subsequently a Whistle Blower’s complaint revealed that the firm was not doing any project. In fact, SAIL conspired with the firm and doled illegal discounts of over Rs 80 Crores to the firm in the name of project and the firm traded/re-sold the steel in the market with windfall gains
On the orders of LOKPAL of India, CBI has registered an FIR No. RC2182024A0021 on 10.10.2024 u/s 120B, 420, 468, 471 IPC and Sections 7, 9 and 12 of the P.C. Act, 1988 as amended against the erring senior officials of SAIL, VENKATESH INFRA PROJECTS P LTD and APCO INFRATECH P Ltd.
It is noteworthy here that Ekta Agarwal who is the director on the board of VENKATESH INFRA PROJECTS P LTD is daughter-in-law of Jai Prakash Agarwal who often contests the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat on the Congress ticket. Mudit Agarwal, son of Jai Prakash Agarwal, currently serves as a Vice President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and is also a member of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC). He was the Indian National Congress candidate for the Chandni Chowk constituency in the last Delhi assembly elections.
it was the not the first time SAIL was conspiring with the Agarwal family. Earlier also SAIL had sold steel to two firms viz. BLA UDYOG P LTD and JAI BALAJI (BALAJEE) ENTERPRISES which are directly connected to the same family. It has been gathered that there is another firm named FIRSTINDIA INFRASTRUCTURE P LTD, to whom also SAIL sold about 25,000 T of TMT Bars in the name of Project while the firm traded/re-sold all the material in the market. Readers can read the following three stories to know how the conspiracy was hatched in SAIL could have lost a total of Rs 100 Crores.
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/agarwals-agarwals-and-sail-officials-a-noticeable-nexus
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-project-scam-another-dimension-to-sails-nexus-with-venkatesh-infra-projects-p-ltd
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-project-scam-venkatesh-infra-projects-p-ltd-a-much-larger-and-deeper-conspiracy
AAP’s Escalator
This is in continuation to Bureaugram.com story titled “SAIL: Scam of Scams; Odessey of Chutzpah; Ballet of Connivance” where it was promised that the connection would be established between three FAKE Project firms namely SHUBHAM BUILDERS; SHIKHA CONSTRUCTION & AAVIDI PROJECTS INFRA (OPC) P LTD with an MLA of Aam Aadmi Party from Delhi. A total of over 45,000 T has been sold to the above three firms by illegally giving heavy discounts in the name of Project and inflicted an estimated loss of over Rs 15.0 Crores to SAIL.
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/sail-scam-of-scams-odessey-of-chutzpah-balle-of-connivance
As far as SHUBHAM BUILDERS and SHIKHA CONSTRUCTION are concerned there is direct connection as the Mobile Numbers of the contact persons given in SAIL belongs to family members of promoters of NOHAR CHAND & SONS STEELS P LTD; NOHAR CHAND LOHA BHANDAR and INTERNATIONAL LOHA BHANDAR P LTD.
(Source: myneta.com)
Before coming to AAVIDI PROJECTS INFRA (OPC) P LTD, let us understand the role of Subhash Abhishek Steels P Ltd whose one of the directors Subash Chand Gupta was also a director in Hardeva Steel Works P Ltd along with AAP MLA Shiv Charan Goel. Here a firm named Ghaziabad Mechfab P Ltd would also be introduced to you.
In order to ride the tide of possible buoyancy in the steel market, the promoters of Subhash Abhishek Steels P Ltd [a trader attached to the Ghaziabad branch of SAIL] incorporated a new firm named Ghaziabad Beta Construction and took GSTIN on Jun 12, 2023. As expected, the market went into high premiums and SAIL officials started selling TMT Bars to Ghaziabad Beta Construction from the month of Sep 2023 from the Ghaziabad branch in the name of Projects at a price which was about Rs 3,000 per tonne lower than the price being offered to SAIL distributors of TMT Bars. All the TMT Bars were shipped to Ghaziabad Beta Construction but at an address where a firm named Ghaziabad Mechfab P Ltd operates its unit no. - III.
Coming back to AAVIDI PROJECTS INFRA (OPC) P LTD, it is a one person director firm. Hitesh Garg is the director of the firm who is also director of Ghaziabad Mechfab P Ltd.
Ladder of other Fake Projects
As if above was not enough, a detailed petition has been given by the MOIL JANSHAKTI MAZDOOR SANGH BALAGHAT to the Honourable President of seeking high-level investigation into serious governance failures, procurement irregularities, misuse of public resources, questionable foreign visits, project mismanagement, and possible nexus between senior officials of the Ministry of Steel and MOIL Limited. The letter has also sought review of the continuance of Shri Sandeep Poundrik, Secretary, Ministry of Steel and Shri V. Suresh, CMD, MOIL Limited on their respective posts. It has been further gathered that on 6th July 2026, President’s secretariat forwarded the petition of the MAZDOOR SANGH to the Cabinet Secretary.
(The above article has been written based on Bureaugram’s extensive research and inputs from various sources including sources from SAIL)
