Reliance Power denies any link to arrested 'consultant' Amar Nath Dutta in fake bank guarantee case

Reliance Power Limited on Saturday issued a clarification following the Enforcement Directorate’s arrest of Amar Nath Dutta in connection with a fake bank guarantee case. The company said Dutta has “no connection whatsoever” with Reliance Power or any of its subsidiaries and that the development has “no impact on the company’s business operations, financial performance, or stakeholders.”

The ED on Thursday arrested Dutta, who it alleged played an “active role” in arranging and submitting forged bank guarantees worth over ₹68 crore to help a Reliance Power subsidiary qualify for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) tender.

According to the agency, Dutta, a Kolkata-based consultant claiming to offer trade finance services, worked in coordination with Ashok Pal, the company’s former chief financial officer, and Partha Sarathi Biswal, managing director of Odisha-based Biswal Tradelink Pvt Ltd, who were arrested earlier in the same case.


Dutta was produced before a Delhi court and remanded to four days of ED custody. The agency said it is probing multiple angles, including tracing the proceeds of crime, identifying beneficiaries, and examining the wider conspiracy involving other entities and individuals.

Meanwhile, in its statement, Reliance Power further reiterated that it and its subsidiary, Reliance NU BESS Limited, along with their employees, are “victims of fraud, forgery, and a cheating conspiracy.”

The company also strongly objected to media reports that linked its promoter, Anil D Ambani, to the matter, clarifying that he “has not been on the board of Reliance Power for more than three and a half years and is in no way connected with this case.”

The larger ED probe

The ED’s probe into Reliance Power’s fake bank guarantee case comes amid a wider investigation into alleged money laundering and loan fraud linked to Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group.

The agency has summoned Ambani for questioning on November 14 in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud at the State Bank of India.

Earlier this month, the central probe agency attached assets worth over Rs 7,500 crore, including more than 132 acres of land at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai, valued at Rs 4,462.81 crore. The action is part of an ongoing probe into suspected diversion of public funds by multiple group entities such as Reliance Communications, Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Home Finance, and Reliance Commercial Finance.

Investigators allege that loans raised between 2010 and 2012 were diverted through circular fund movements and related-party transactions, with large sums used to repay debts of other group firms in violation of lending terms.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has also directed the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to examine governance lapses and potential fund diversion within key Reliance entities.