ED Chargesheet Accuses Reliance Power of Using Fake Bank Guarantees in SECI Bid.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Anil Ambani–owned Reliance Power Limited, its subsidiary Reliance NU BESS Limited, and associated entities for allegedly using forged bank guarantees to secure a major energy storage project from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a public sector firm under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
The chargesheet follows an ED probe based on two FIRs lodged with the Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW): one by SECI against Reliance NU BESS, and another by Reliance NU BESS against Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink Private Limited and its managing director, Partha Sarathi Biswal.
Forged Guarantees in 1,000 MW BESS Tender
Investigators found that Reliance NU BESS submitted a bid for SECI’s tender to install 1,000 MW/2,000 MWh standalone Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects. The bid required a bank guarantee of ₹68.2 crore, with tender rules mandating that guarantees issued by foreign banks be endorsed by their Indian branches or by the State Bank of India (SBI).
The ED alleges that Reliance Power, “with mala fide intent,” engaged Biswal Tradelink—described as a shell company—to procure a fraudulent bank guarantee. These purported guarantees were issued by a non-existent FirstRand Bank branch in Manila and by ACE Investment Bank Limited in Malaysia.
Endorsements were then forged using spoofed SBI emails and fabricated letters, created via a fake domain—s-bi.co.in—closely resembling the genuine sbi.co.in.
Funds Moved Through Fictitious Work Orders
To fund the operation, Reliance Power allegedly routed ₹6.33 crore from group company Rosa Power Supply Company Limited to Biswal Tradelink under the guise of transportation services that never occurred. Investigators say Reliance officials fabricated work orders and invoices in collusion with Biswal.
The company also allegedly paid ₹5.40 crore to Biswal Tradelink as a purported “fee” to give the arrangement an appearance of legitimacy.
‘Reliance Knew Guarantee Was Fake’
According to the agency, senior Reliance Group officials were aware that the guarantee submitted to SECI was forged and supported by a spoofed SBI email ID. When SECI detected anomalies and flagged the guarantee, Reliance reportedly arranged a genuine IDBI Bank guarantee within 24 hours, but SECI declined to accept it as the deadline had passed.
In a bid to salvage its L-2 position, Reliance NU BESS allegedly attempted to obtain a fresh endorsement of the fake foreign guarantee from an SBI branch in Kolkata. For this, officials are accused of creating a dummy agreement and securing a Kolkata Municipal Corporation “Certificate of Enlistment” using false address documents.
When this too failed, Reliance filed a complaint against Biswal Tradelink and its director—a move the ED claims was intended to deflect blame.
Arrests and Attachments
The ED says its investigation has “established the connivance and malicious intentions” of Reliance Group entities in using fake foreign guarantees and forged SBI endorsements.
Reliance Power’s CFO, Ashok Kumar Pal, has been arrested and remains in judicial custody along with other alleged facilitators. Ahead of filing the chargesheet, the ED also attached assets worth ₹5.15 crore, identified as proceeds of crime.
The case is now before a special PMLA court, which will decide the extent of criminal liability for the accused individuals and companies.
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