Jain, 60, reached the ED office around 11am after which his statement was recorded under the prevention of money laundering act. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in connection with a money laundering probe linked to alleged corruption in the augmentation of some Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewage treatment plants (STPs), people familiar with the development said.
He is being investigated in other cases as well by the ED, including a 2022 case pertaining to alleged hawala transactions and possession of disproportionate assets, in which he was arrested that year as well. The agency last month booked him in an alleged classroom construction related irregularities in the national capital. Jain has held various portfolios in Delhi government during the AAP rule, including health, Industries, power, Public Works Department (PWD), home and urban development.
The STPs probe pertains to tenders awarded for augmentation and upgradation of 10 sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Pappankala, Nilothi (Package 1), Najafgarh, Keshopur (Package 2), Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini (Package 3) and Kondli (Package 4). The four tenders, valued at ₹1,943 crore, were awarded to various joint venture (JV) entities in October 2022.
According to the ED, only three JV companies participated in the four tenders. “While two JVs got one tender each, one JV got two tenders. The three JVs participated in the four STP tenders mutually to ensure that each one got the tender,” according to a statement by the ED, shared in the matter in July 2024 after raids at various locations in Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
It is alleged that the tendering conditions were made restrictive, including adoption of IFAS technology to ensure that select few entities could participate in the four bids. “The cost estimates initially prepared was ₹1,546 crore but was revised during the tender process to ₹1,943 crore. It is further alleged that the contracts were awarded to the three JVs at inflated rates which caused a substantive loss to the exchequer,” ED said in July 2024.
“The costs adopted by DJB for upgradation and augmentation were same though the cost of upgrading is lesser than the cost for augmentation. All the 3 JVs submitted the same experience certificate issued from a Taiwan Project to DJB for securing the tenders and the same was accepted without any verifications,” it added. Subsequently, all the three JVs sub-contracted the work related to the four tenders to a single company in Hyderabad.
