Massive fraud emerges in Rs 65 crore Paradip Port development project

A substantial fraud has emerged in the significant Rs 65 crore development project at Odisha's Paradip Port, raising serious concerns over financial discrepancies. Reports indicate that a contractual company has allegedly siphoned off Rs 3.5 crore as an advance for the construction of 350 residential units under the 'Smart Industrial Port City' initiative.

DNC Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a Hyderabad-based construction company, is at the centre of the allegations. Reports suggest the firm secured the development contract by presenting a fraudulent bank guarantee worth Rs 10 crore from a branch of Indian Bank in Kolkata. Later, it vanished after obtaining a mobilization advance of Rs 3.28 crore from the port authorities.

DNC infrastructure has been accused of presenting a fabricated bank guarantee. It is claimed that forged documents and emails were used to secure the contract. On the other hand, several sub-contractors claim they were misled by the firm.

In response, they have demanded the Chief Minister's intervention, calling for a comprehensive investigation and suitable measures against those responsible for the alleged deceit. Despite the serious nature of the allegations, Paradip Port authorities have remained tight-lipped, abstaining from issuing any public statements.

“The entire bank guarantee that the firm had deposited is ‘fake’. Shockingly, the Port authorities did not verify whether the bank guarantees were fake or not; so many of us have been misled. We demand CM Mohan Majhi to interfere and call for a comprehensive investigation,” demanded Biswajit Pradhan, a Sub-contractor.