Cables talk of Sanjay Gandhi’s business ambitions

NEW DELHI: In the mid-70 s when Bombay wanted to buy 700 bus chassis and machine shop equipment for one of the biggest expansions of its public transport until then, authorities were forced to issue tenders to Sanjay Gandhi’s Maruti firm. Though the Gurgaon based Maruti did not manufacture buses, during emergency, BEST issued the tender to it without any objection, according to a cable sent from the US consulate in Bombay.

The cable sent on August 10, 1976, by the Bombay consulate said, “Maruti Heavy Vehicles Ltd, New Delhi, a firm in which PM (Indira) Gandhi’s son Sanjay holds interest, has also been supplied with tender forms ‘under instruction’. Maruti is neither a bus-chassis producer, nor is known to represent any major foreign vehicle manufacturer . Best source was unable to identify reasons for Maruti’s interest in the bid.”

The consulate, however, noted that in another tender in New Delhi, Maruti also wanted to supply international harvester truck trailers, which, too, it did not produce. In fact, many of the US cables — dispatched between 1973 and 1976 — show the reckless expansion and business ambitions of Sanjay Gandhi and his Maruti that also sought to represent several US firms, including aircraft-makers in India. The purchase was to be funded by the World Bank, and 30 tenders were sold to prospective suppliers. Of them the foreign firms included Volvo, British Leyland, Nissan, Mitsubishi , Ford etc. The Indian firms included Tata, Ashok-Leyland, Premier Motors.