ED Registers ECIR, Initiates Money-Laundering Probe Into ₹800-Crore JNPA Dredging Project Scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched a money laundering investigation into the alleged ₹800 crore corruption case related to the Capital Dredging Project at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) in Navi Mumbai. 

Case Registered

According to sources, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on Friday, following the predicate offence registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)  on June 18.The financial probe agency is now investigating the suspected laundering of proceeds generated through inflated project costs and other alleged irregularities.

The CBI, in its FIR named former JNPA Chief Manager Sunil Kumar Madabhavi, Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE), Mumbai, TCE Director Devdutt Bose, Boskalis Smit India LLP, Mumbai, and Jan De Nul Dredging India Pvt. Ltd, Chennai. Several unnamed private individuals and entities have also been booked for allegedly entering into a criminal conspiracy with port officials, causing a loss of over Rs 800 crore to JNPA.

The scam pertains to contracts awarded to a consortium of Mumbai-based and Chennai-based private companies under the Capital Dredging Project, which was aimed at increasing the depth of the navigational channel to facilitate the entry of larger vessels into the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva). Tata Consulting Engineers served as the project management consultants for JNPA.

The CBI initiated the case based on the findings of a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) launched in June 2022. The agency found prima facie evidence of collusion between JNPA officials and private firms, resulting in inflated estimates, restricted competition to benefit international bidders, undue favours to contractors, and suppression of critical reports by independent experts and organizations. 

CBI FIR alleged that irregularities took place during the execution of a Capital Dredging Project intended to deepen the navigational channel at the port to accommodate larger vessels.During Phase-I of the project, JNPA made excess payments aggregating to Rs 365.9 crore to the contractors against claims raised for over-dredging of channels.  

However, the payments came under scrutiny after it was revealed that during Phase-II, which coincided with the maintenance period of Phase-I, an additional Rs 438 crore was disbursed under the claim that no over-dredging had taken place in the previous phase, thereby contradicting earlier assertions.

Following the registration of the FIR, CBI teams conducted searches at the residential premises of certain JNPA officials and executives of the consulting firm, as well as at the offices of the accused private companies across five locations in Mumbai and Chennai. The operation led to the recovery of several documents related to the Capital Dredging Project, digital devices, and papers allegedly indicating investments made by public servants linked to the scam. According to CBI officials, the recovered materials are currently under examination, and further inquiries are underway to determine the full scope of financial irregularities and identify all individuals involved 

In coordination with CBI, the ED officials may soon summon the accused persons for inquiry, another source said.

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