Hyderabad — The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against officials of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), and two private firms—Bridge & Roof Company (India) Ltd and Power Inframech Pvt. Ltd.—for allegedly manipulating project accounts and submitting falsified wage bills that led to a loss of ₹35 crore to BHEL.
According to the CBI, the irregularities occurred during installation and commissioning work at NTPC’s 2×800 MW Ramagundam power project site in Telangana between 2017 and 2022. The complaint, filed by Harish Kumar Gupta, Additional General Manager (Vigilance) at BHEL’s Power Sector Western Region (PSWR) office in Nagpur, alleged “large-scale financial misconduct” in how project bills were verified and approved.
Pattern of Manipulation and Collusion
Investigators allege that wage bills submitted by Bridge & Roof Company were accepted without due verification. These documents, the CBI claims, were manipulated in collusion with certain BHEL officials and the subcontractor, Power Inframech. The result was the approval of inflated payments for work that was either overstated or never executed.
The FIR states that the accused officials conspired with unknown NTPC personnel and private contractors “with the intention to cheat BHEL.” The agency suspects a broader pattern of forged documentation, including falsified accounts and unverified billing statements, designed to disguise financial misappropriation as legitimate expenditure.
FCRF Launches CCLP Program to Train India’s Next Generation of Cyber Law Practitioners
Officials and Legal Framework
The FIR names five BHEL officials posted at the Ramagundam site — Sunil Kumar Kodape (Assistant General Manager), Sajjan Kumar Soni (Manager), Ashutosh Premchand Jumnake (Deputy Manager), Rajib Chakraborty (General Manager), and B.C. Tudu (Additional General Manager). Also listed are representatives of Power Inframech and Bridge & Roof, along with unknown public servants from NTPC.
CBI sources confirmed that the investigation was initiated after obtaining statutory approvals under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act from BHEL’s competent authority. Additionally, permissions under Sections 5 and 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, were granted by the Department of Personnel and Training (Government of India) and the Government of Telangana.
The case has been registered under Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (criminal conspiracy), read with sections relating to cheating, forgery, falsification of accounts, and relevant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
