CBI Books Siemens Gamesa for Rs 191 Crore SJVN Loss

New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) The CBI has filed an FIR against Chennai-based Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power, representatives of Power and Energy Consultants and retired officials of SJVN for allegedly causing a Rs 191-crore loss to the PSU due to irregularities in setting up its wind power project in Ahmednagar, officials said Wednesday.

After filing the FIR, the agency conducted searches at seven locations, including offices of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power and Power and Energy Consultants, they said. The search operation on Tuesday was spread across premises of the accused in Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Samana in Punjab's Patiala district and Chennai, they said.

Queries sent to Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power and Power Energy Consultants remained unanswered.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked three retired senior officers -- RK Agarwal (executive director), Sanjay Uppal (chief general manager) and AK Jindal (deputy general manager) -- of SJVN Limited (earlier known as Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam), besides Power and Energy Consultants representatives Vineet Sharma and CM Jain and Chennai-based Gamesa Wind Turbines Private Limited (now known as Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power Private Limited) in the case under Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, they said.

The agency has alleged that during the setting up of the wind power plant, material and equipment installed did not meet standards mentioned in the contracts, resulting in losses of Rs 191.87 crore to SJVN during the nine years from 2012-13 to 20121-22.

In 2012, SJVN awarded the contract for a 47.6 MW wind power project at Khirvire/Khombhalne in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district with comprehensive operation and maintenance for 10 years to Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power for erection, testing and commissioning for an amount of Rs 351.80 crore, the CBI FIR said.

The accused officers of SJVN allegedly supervised the commissioning of the project to Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power, it said.

During a joint inspection at the plant by the CBI and teams of National Institute of Wind Energy and SJVN vigilance, 12 components mentioned in the Bid Response Sheet were checked for which no Material Dispatch Clearance Certificate was issued. The team also checked the contract documents.

The CBI alleged that the accused SJVN officials abused their position as public servants and did not ensure the source country of the components installed at the plant, causing a wrongful loss of Rs 191.87 crore due to under-performance of the unit.

The agency FIR alleged that the accused officials, contractor consultancy firm, and Gamesa Wind Turbines (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Power) are responsible for the wrong selection of the land and installing the material and component without following the norms of the contract.

They are also accused of not asking for the Material Dispatch Clearance Certificate of products and materials at the time of installation at the project site, resulting in the plant's running underperformance.