Anil Ambani’s companies Reliance Power and Reliance NU BESS Limited have been barred for three years from participating in tenders of state-owned solar company SECI for allegedly submitting ‘fake documents’. Earlier also, SEBI had banned Anil Ambani from the security market for five years.
Bank guarantee found fake in Reliance Power and Reliance NU BESS Limited document investigation
Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) said in a note, ‘Maharashtra Energy Generation, known as Reliance NU BESS (for a project). On scrutiny of the documents submitted by the company, it was found that the bank guarantee in lieu of EMD (issued by a foreign bank) submitted by the bidder as per the tender conditions was fake.’ The case pertains to the Reference for Selection (RFS) issued for setting up a 1,000 MW/ 2,000 MWh single-stage BESS project under competitive bidding conducted by SECI.
The tender process had to be cancelled after irregularities were found
The above irregularities were found after the e-reverse auction, forcing SECI to cancel the tender process. SECI said that it has barred Reliance Power and Reliance NU BESS from participating in tenders to be issued in a period of three years. As per the tender conditions, the bidder may be debarred from participating in future tenders due to submission of fake documents.
The bidding entity, being a subsidiary of Reliance Power Limited, had fulfilled the financial eligibility conditions by using the strength of its parent company. But the subsequent investigation found that all the commercial and strategic decisions taken by the bidder were actually driven by the parent company. In such a situation, it became necessary to bar Reliance Power from participating in future tenders.
