Pune Garbage Project Linked to Rs 50 Crore Fraud; ED Raids in Mumbai in BECIL Loan Scam
Mumbai/Pune, 24th April 2025: A major financial fraud involving ₹50 crore, linked to a loan sanctioned for Pune’s waste management project, has been unearthed. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted raids at seven locations in Mumbai and one in Faridabad as part of its investigation into the alleged irregularities.
The probe centers around a loan granted by BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited), a government-owned enterprise, to a Mumbai-based firm, The Green Billion Limited, managed by Pratik Kanakia. Although the loan was claimed to be for executing a waste management project for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the ED found that no such project was ever carried out and the funds were siphoned off through a network of shell companies and individuals.
The case dates back to a conspiracy hatched in 2022, where senior officials of BECIL allegedly bypassed procedural norms to approve the loan. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier arrested BECIL’s former Managing Director and General Manager for accepting a ₹3 crore bribe in exchange for clearing the loan.
Pratik Kanakia was also arrested in connection with the case. Investigators discovered that a fake bank guarantee worth ₹25 crore was submitted to secure the loan. So far, authorities estimate the total loss to the central government at around ₹58 crore.
