ED attaches `78-cr assets of Kochhars
After contracting for three consecutive months, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) clocked a growth of
1.8 per cent in November, signalling a glimmer of hope of recovery in some sectors like manufacturing and mining. The industrial output grew by 0.2 per cent in the year-ago month.
Manufacturing and mining output grew 2.7 per cent and 1.7 per cent in November against contraction of 2.1 per cent and 8 per cent in October, respectively.
The National Statistical Organisation had earlier projected that the manufacturing sector would grow at 2 per cent in 2019-20 against 6.9 per cent in 2018-19.
However, the growth of primary products fell 0.3 per cent against a decline of 6 per cent last month. Production of capital goods, a barometer of investment, saw a contraction of 8.6 per cent against a fall of 21.9 per cent in October and contraction of 4.1 per cent a year ago.
Consumer durables fell
1.5 per cent in November against a fall of 18 per cent in October.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday attached assets worth Rs 78 crore belonging to former ICICI Bank chairman Chanda Kochhar and her family, including her Rs
3.5-crore flat in Mumbai, as part of the money laundering probe against them.
Though the book value of these assets is Rs 78.15 crore, officials said the market value is about Rs
600 crore.
A provisional attachment order under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been issued for attachment of properties like flat, land and plant & machinery of a wind farm project in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, said the central probe agency in a statement issued here on Friday.
These assets, said the ED, are in possession of Kochhar, her husband Deepak Kochhar and the companies owned and controlled by him.
The ED had slapped money laundering charges against the Kochhars and their business entities in January last year for "illegal sanctioning of loans amounting to Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon Group of companies." This was done after the ED studied a CBI FIR against the Kochhars and carried out raids.
Investigations that an amount revealed of Rs 64 crore, out of the loan amount of Rs 300 crore sanctioned by a committee headed by Chanda Kochhar to Videocon International Electronics Limited, was transferred to Nupower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL) by Videocon Industries on September 8, 2009, just a day after disbursement of loan by ICICI Bank. NRPL was earlier known as NuPower Renewables Limited (NRL) and is a company of Deepak Kochhar, the ED said. Moreover, it alleged that "net revenue of Rs 10.65 crore was generated by NRL from these tainted funds."
"Therefore, proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 74.65 crore were transferred to or to say generated in NRPL," the ED said. The central investigation agency charged that Chanda Kochhar and her family "acquired" an apartment at Mumbai (in which they live) owned by one of the Videocon Group companies by way of "acquiring that company through her family trust at a nominal price and by creating book entries."