SAIL PROJECT SCAM: Why Whistle Blower’s suspension was not revoked in July 2023?
Soma & Agarwal were retiring in Apr 2023 and July 2023 respectively, did not want to miss the last chance to benefit from sales to FAKE PROJECTS
Though inquiry proceedings concluded in mid of July 2023 but suspension revoked in Sep 2023 end
Suspension was revoked after selling 1.25 Lakh Tonne to FAKE PROJECTS
Was Chakravarthy a lame duck D(C)?
Agarwal superannuates and his college junior Mathur takes over
Dubious role of Steel Ministry and Independent Directors as all happened before their eyes after the Venkatesh’s complaint
The Whistle Blower Rajeev Bhatia was suspended on Nov 24, 2022 for exposing the FAKE PROJECT SCAM in SAIL on Nov 17, 2022. Thereafter FAKE disciplinary proceedings were initiated against him under the Inquiry Officer Munish Ahuja who as Regional Manager of the Eastern Region of SAIL-CMO was deeply involved in sales to the FAKE PROJECT. A case of “Direct Conflict of Interest”. Ahuja not only sold to Venkatesh Infra Projects P Ltd but also sold huge volumes to other FAKE PROJECTS.
The agenda behind suspension of Bhatia was not only to take revenge on him for making a bold effort to stop the FAKE PROJECT BUSINESS which was prospering under the aegis of the senior management, but also to keep him away from office so that SAIL management can keep selling to FAKE PROJECTS uninterrupted without any hindrance.
Bhatia was kept under suspension from Nov 24, 2022 to Sep 28,2023 and during this period about 4.0 Lakh Tonne of TMT Bars were sold to the FAKE PROJECTS by the SAIL management giving cumulative illegal discounts of about Rs 100 Crores to their favourite traders. Had the SAIL management been honest and committed to the company, these sales must have completely stopped from Nov 2022. Rather than arresting, sales to FAKE PROJECTS spiralled exponentially because Soma Mondal and M C Agarwal were retiring in Apr 2023 and July 2023 respectively and did not want to miss this last chance to benefit from such sales. Amarendu joined the bandwagon after taking over as Chairman SAIL on May 31, 2023.
Though the FAKE inquiry proceedings launched against Bhatia were concluded by Ahuja in mid of July 2023 but the Disciplinary Authority Sanjay Agarwal who also happens to be samdhi of M C Agarwal the then ED (Sales & ITD), kept him under suspension till Sep 28,2023 without any justified reason. The question arises why and on whose advice?
The answer lies in the fact that out of 4.0 Lakh Tonne, about 1.25 Lakh Tonne of TMT Bars were to be sold to the FAKE PROJECTS in the next two month of Aug & Sep 2023 to ride the steel market buoyancy whose signs were already visible. This was done despite the fact that the Chairman SAIL Amarendu Prakash had committed to the Ministry of Steel on July 31, 2023 in writing, to stop such sales.
There are numerous glaring examples of the FAKE PROJECTS who were sold huge volume of TMT Bars in these two months. Sales were not made only to the existing FAKE PROJECTS but new FAKE PROJECTS were also inducted to ride the market tide and make windfall gains through illegal heavy discounts in the name of Projects.
The most glaring case is that of two firms namely SHRI MOHANGARH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY & SMCC-AG JV, belonging to the same family based in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. These two firms came from nowhere and went away taking 4,500 Tonne of TMT Bars during Aug & Sep 2023 from the Jaipur branch of SAIL CMO under the Regional Managership of T N Natarajan, who is presently Director (Commercial) of SAIL. The firms got a benefit of over Rs 3.0 Crores. Over 80% of the TMT Bars were given to the above firms on “Direct Dispatch by Road” so that they can sell anywhere in India.
Another glaring case is that of OfBusiness to whom over 45,000 T of TMT Bars were sold in the name of Projects in Aug & Sep 2023.
# The extent of connivance can be gauged from the fact that an MOU was entered with OFB from June 01, 2023 for 26,851 Tonne for one year in which the indicative quantity for TMT Bars was 20,000 T. It translates to average quantity of about 1,700 T per month. However, to allow OFB to make colossal profits in a highly buoyant market 17,500 T of TMT Bars were given in just two months of Aug & Sep 2023.
The Ministry of Steel had advised Amarendu to initiate Departmental Inquiry against M C Agarwal the then ED (Sales & ITD). However, he refused to do so and Agarwal superannuated from SAIL on July 31,2023 with full glory and with all retirement benefits released. On Oct 04, 2023, Agarwal joined as Director in OfBusiness (OFB TECH P LTD). The firm is B2B commerce firm to whom over 3.0 Lakh Tonne of steel has been sold under Projects in 12 firms associated with them. It is estimated that an illegal discount of over Rs 100 Crore has been given to them in the name of Projects.
https://www.bureaugram.com/news/corruption-in-sail-a-never-ending-greed
Agarwal superannuates and his college junior takes over
M C Agarwal superannuates as ED (Sales & ITD) on July 31,2023 and Atul Mathur takes over. Both belong to Jaipur and both concurrently studied Metallurgy at NIT Jaipur [Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur (MNIT)] in early eighties. Mathur was two years junior of Agarwal. It has also been gathered that Agarwal after passing out from MNIT also teaches there for about two years and Mathur was his student. While in SAIL also, Mathur remained his student throughout. Sales of over 45,000 T of TMT Bars to firms connected to OfBusiness to ride the market tide, in the immediate two months after Agarwal left was the result of this over 35 years relationship between them.
The same combination of M C Agarwal and Mathur looted SAIL through the same modus-operandi, when they were Regional Manager and Regional Business Manager (Long Products) of Northern Region from June 2016 onwards. Few major cases of Northern Region for supply to FAKE PROJECTS of their period are:
Sources claim that earlier sales and marketing were in the hands of M C Agarwal and his samdhi Sanjay Agarwal respectively and now in the hands of a close aide of M C Agarwal and his samdhi. Even after departure from the scene, M C Agarwal had the total control over the CMO system. Sources also claim that Amarendu was part of the game. He not only gave clean chit to M C Agarwal through his 90-page letter dated July 31, 2023 sent to Director (Vigilance), Ministry of Steel and placed his close aide Mathur on the seat of ED (Sales & ITD). As per the sources who are well conversant with the functioning of CMO, the letter was a compendium of blatant lies to misguide the Ministry and other investigating agencies/authorities.
In addition to sales to OfBusiness, attention is also drawn to the sales of Jaipur branch to FAKE PROJECTS during the two months of Aug & Sep 2023. The branch sold over 18,000 Tonne to FAKE PROJECTS against the average sales of 2,000 T during previous three months i.e. May, June & July 2023. It is notable here that apart from hailing from Jaipur, Agarwal and Mathur have worked in the Jaipur Branch of SAIL CMO as sales officers.
The duo was again together from June 2021 to July 2023, Mathur as Regional Manager of Western Region and M C Agarwal as his reporting ED as ED (sales & ITD). During this period Mathur sold about 1.3 Lakh Tonne to the FAKE PROJECTS.
Chakravarty the Key Force or a Lame Duck?
For a long time, V S Chakravarty before becoming Director (Commercial) in Dec 2021, had worked under M C Agarwal and a party to many decisions with respect to the FAKE Projects. Both were the signatories to the PROJECT MOU proposal which was forwarded to the Head Quarter by the Regional Manager of Northern Region V Suresh.
Agarwal also appeared for the interview, but PESB selected Chakravarty for the post of Director (Commercial) of SAIL. As per the sources, till July 2023 when Agarwal was the ED (Sales & ITD), Chakravarty was a lame duck and Agarwal was the de-facto Director (Commercial) as far as the sales & marketing decisions are concerned.
Sales to FAKE Projects did not stop with the departure of Agarwal. Sales of 1.25 Lakh Tonne of TMT Bars to the FAKE PROJECTS in the immediate two month after Agarwal’s exit is the testimony of the same. What does it suggest? Whether the bond between Atul Mathur, the new ED (Sales & ITD) & M C Agarwal was strong which Chakravarthy could not break even after M C Agarwal’s superannuation or Chakravarthy as Director (Commercial) himself was the protagonist for sales to FAKE PROJECTS by giving heavy illegal discounts.
Additionally, it has also been gathered that it was Chakravarthy only who took the call for the Whistle Blower’s suspension and also decided the timing for the revocation when the market tide which started in the last week of July 2023 started ebbing.
Few other exemplary cases are given below where huge volumes of TMT Bars were given in Aug & Sep 2023 to FAKE PROJECTS to ride the market tide and garner huge profits:
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