Reliance Power Under Mounting Pressure as ED Files Chargesheet Against Anil Ambani-Led Group

In a major development tightening the noose around Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power Limited, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a comprehensive chargesheet accusing the company and its subsidiaries of submitting fraudulent bank guarantees to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). SECI, which functions under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, had floated a major tender for an energy storage project that Reliance NU BESS Limited — a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power — attempted to secure.

The chargesheet is based on ED’s investigation into FIRs registered by the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW). One FIR was filed by SECI itself against Reliance NU BESS Limited, while another was lodged by the company against Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink Private Limited and its managing director, Partha Sarathi Biswal.

USE OF FAKE GUARANTEES IN TENDER BIDS

According to investigators, Reliance NU BESS participated in SECI’s tender for establishing large-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects with a total capacity of 1000 MW/2000 MWh. To validate its bid, the company was required to produce a bank guarantee of Rs 68.2 crore. As per tender norms, foreign bank guarantees must be endorsed by their Indian branches or authenticated by the State Bank of India (SBI).

However, ED’s findings indicate that Reliance Power, acting “with mala FIDE intention,” partnered with shell entity Biswal Tradelink to acquire a counterfeit guarantee. The fake documents were allegedly issued under the names of ACE Investment Bank Limited in Malaysia and a fabricated FirstRand Bank branch in Manila. To reinforce the forgery, the culprits reportedly created bogus SBI endorsements using a spoofed email ID and issued fabricated letters. A fraudulent domain, s-bi.co.in, closely resembling SBI’s official domain, was also registered to mislead authorities.

MONEY MOVED THROUGH FAKE WORK ORDERS

The investigation further revealed that Reliance Power diverted Rs 6.33 crore from Rosa Power Supply Company Limited — another group entity — to Biswal Tradelink, citing transportation services that never took place. ED officials found forged invoices and fabricated work orders allegedly prepared by Reliance Group executives in collusion with Biswal.

Additionally, Reliance Power is said to have paid a “fee” of Rs 5.40 crore to Biswal Tradelink to lend legitimacy to the fraudulent transaction and conceal the true nature of the operation.

“RELIANCE KNEW THE GUARANTEE WAS FAKE,” SAYS ED

The chargesheet states that senior officials of the Reliance Group were fully aware that a forged bank guarantee had been submitted. When SECI identified the Fraud and raised an alert, Reliance rushed to obtain a genuine guarantee from IDBI Bank within 24 hours. However, as the deadline had already expired, SECI rejected the submission.

In an effort to salvage its position as the L-2 bidder in the tender, the company allegedly attempted to secure a fresh endorsement of the fake guarantee from an SBI branch in Kolkata. Investigators say company officials created a dummy agreement and secured a fraudulent “Certificate of Enlistment” from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation using forged address documents to support their claim.

When these attempts failed, Reliance filed a complaint against Biswal Tradelink and its managing director — a move ED describes as an attempt to shift blame onto the intermediary.

CFO ARRESTED, ED ATTACHES ASSETS

According to the ED, its investigation has conclusively demonstrated “the connivance and malicious intent” of key Reliance Group personnel involved in producing forged SBI endorsements and counterfeit foreign bank guarantees.

Reliance Power’s Chief Financial Officer, Ashok Kumar Pal, along with other alleged facilitators, has been arrested and remains in judicial custody. Just before filing the chargesheet, the ED also attached proceeds of crime worth Rs 5.15 crore linked to the operation.

The entire case is now being heard before the special PMLA court, where further proceedings will determine the extent of criminal liability and involvement of all individuals and corporate entities named in the chargesheet.