₹1,500 Crore Scam Unearthed in BCCL Dhanbad, Multiple Officials Under Probe
If explanations of officials fail to satisfy the inquiry panel, demotion or stricter disciplinary action could be staring them on their face
A major scam worth nearly ₹1,500 crore has rocked Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), with several top officials under investigation for allegedly providing undue benefits to a well-known mining contractor.
The Ministry of Coal and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) have initiated a detailed probe into the matter. Preliminary investigations have already uncovered large-scale irregularities, leading to the issuance of show-cause notices to several senior officials.
Contracts awarded between 2021 and 2025 are under the scanner. Sources confirm that the case file has been sent to the Ministry of Coal and the CVC for further action.
The latest controversy centers around projects in Kujama (Lodna area), Eastern Jharia Bhawra Four A Patch, and the NTST project, where irregularities in outsourcing contracts were detected. Investigators suspect that deviations from the prescribed contract extension norms led to significant financial loss.
Nearly three dozen officials — including the CMD of BCCL, a functional director, general managers, tender and technical committee members, and nodal officers — have been asked to respond between August 20 and 31. Even a former BCCL director, now serving as CMD in another PSU, has been sent a notice. Retired officials from the Contract Management Department are also under probe.
According to insiders, the outsourcing company was granted project extensions beyond the permissible deviation limit. The issue was reportedly discussed and cleared in meetings of the technical and tender committees on June 9, 2023, and February 21, 2024, and later approved in a Functional Director’s meeting.
In the first week of August, six officials — including GM Dhanraj Akhare, Kumar Rajeev, Mithilesh Kumar, SA Talmale, Sanjay Kumar Agrawal, and Deepankar Maithy — were issued notices by the vigilance general manager on August 5. They have been asked to justify why such a large deviation was approved despite the proposed Mine Developer & Operator (MDO) project at Kujama.
If their explanations fail to satisfy the inquiry panel, officials may face demotion or stricter disciplinary action.
www.indianpsu.com sent an email query to CMD BCCL Samiran Dutta. We even tried to contact him over the phone and WhatsApp but we failed to get any response from him or other top management officials of BCCL.
