Mumbai, Jan 8 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a businessman for allegedly misusing a loan availed from a public sector undertaking for setting up a waste-to-energy plant for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and for indulging in money laundering.
The ED’s Mumbai Zonal Office arrested Prateek Kanakia, Chief Executive Officer of The Green Billions Limited (TGBL), on January 1, 2026, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the case.
Kanakia was produced before the Special Court (PMLA), Mumbai, on the same day and was remanded to ED custody till January 1, 2026.
According to an official statement, the ED investigation revealed that the accused had fraudulently availed and diverted a loan amounting to Rs 50 crore from Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), a Government of India public sector undertaking, thereby causing wrongful loss to BECIL.
In 2018, the Pune Municipal Corporation issued an Expression of Interest (EOI) for setting up and operating a waste-to-energy plant. The project was awarded in 2019 to Variate Consultants and, subsequently, in 2020, a concession agreement was executed between PMC and Variate Pune Waste to Energy Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed for the project.
Thereafter, The Green Billions Limited, the company headed by the accused, entered into a binding term sheet to acquire the SPV and approached BECIL to form a consortium, under which BECIL was to act as the Project Management Consultant and financial partner for the PMC project.
In 2022, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA) sanctioned a short-term loan of Rs 80 crore to BECIL, out of which Rs 50 crore was further sanctioned by BECIL to TGBL, the statement said.
The ED investigation revealed that Prateek Kanakia, through his private firm and allegedly in connivance with former employees of BECIL, fraudulently availed the credit facility in the name of the Pune waste-to-energy project by using forged and fabricated documents and without complying with stipulated conditions.
The agency stated that the loan funds were subsequently diverted and misappropriated, and that no work was undertaken at the project site, as confirmed by officials of the Pune Municipal Corporation.
According to the ED, the proceeds of crime were utilised by the accused for personal expenses and to maintain a lavish lifestyle, including the use of luxury vehicles and the renting and renovation of high-end residential premises located in prime areas of Mumbai and Delhi, thereby projecting a false impression of financial prosperity.
--IANS
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