Where is the gentleman who lost his sleep because somebody told him a Minister demanded 15 Crores to enable him to set up Airlines Business?
As the CBI’s investigations into the Rs 1.76-lakh 2G spectrum scam progresses, a Lok Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh has sent off a letter to the prime minister (a copy of which is with Outlook) levelling serious charges against the Tatas and Unitech.
It is believed that Unitech served as a front for the Tata group when they were “desperate” for a GSM license and spectrum. Ramesh Rathod, the Telugu Desam Party MP from Adilabad, points out in the January 11, 2011, letter that the Tata group “funded the entire amount of Rs 1,700 crore paid by the Unitech group for acquiring” 2G spectrum. He also alleges that the “deal was brokered by Niira Radia” who had both the “Tata group and Unitech group as her clients”. (The Radia tapes had given indications on this earlier—that she played a key role in some of the repayments from Unitech to Tata Realty.)
As proof of his allegations, Rathod has attached the annual report of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd for the fiscal year 2007-08. He points out that it clearly records an MoU of Rs 1,700 crore with “a party”. The “party” mentioned, Rathod says, was none other than the Unitech group for the “proposed acquisition of land-owning companies”. Why did the annual report fail to mention who the “party” was and what were the exact nature of the land-owning companies they were planning to acquire? And most importantly, why did they infuse capital into Unitech just before the allocation of licences and 2G spectrum? Was it a mere coincidence?
Rathod also points out that the “back-to-back funding” from Tata Realty to Unitech went to the latter’s eight subsidiaries that were seeking spectrum allocation. For instance, Unitech Wireless (Delhi) received an unsecured loan of Rs 163.59 crore, which was, in actual terms, money from the Tatas. Similarly, seven other entities also received a proportionate share of the Rs 1,700-crore loan from the Tatas.
This, Rathod alleges, “clearly shows that the motive of the Tata group was never to acquire the land/land-owning companies”. The Tata group, he says, “in a clandestine manner, advanced a huge loan of Rs 1,700 crore to Unitech, flouting all rules, regulations and applicable laws”. Rathod has now asked the PM to investigate the matter and to ensure that “immediate penal and corrective steps are taken”.
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