Nitin Gadkari denies wrongdoing in loan extended to Purti Group

NEW DELHI: Amid allegations of corruption and misappropriation which led to uproar in the Rajya Sabha today, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari asserted his stand against the comptroller and auditor general of India’s report on loans extended to Purti Sakhar Karkhana (PSKL) of which he was the chairman between 2000 and 2011. Gadkari said, “CAG report has nowhere named me as a wrong doer nor there is any adverse comment against me. There is neither any indictment nor any charge of corruption or misappropriation against me or the PSKL.”

Gadkari said in a statement in the Rajya Sabha that the CAG report was deliberately being misinterpreted for political reasons. CAG in its report said that there were violation of norms in the loans given to PSKL by Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)

“IREDA could recover only Rs. 71.35 crore out of Rs. 84.12 crore recoverable from the borrower, resulting in a sacrifice of Rs. 12.77 crore,” the CAG report said.

Gadkari in his statement however said that PSKL settled the loan amount by repaying the full principle and major part of the interest, amounting to 84.81% of the total outstanding and is far better placed than other companies which settled their loans with IREDA under the one time settlement scheme. “The audit does not conclude any issue of mis-utilization, misappropriation, fraudulent or corrupt practices….I resigned as Chairman in 2011 and since then I am no longer associated with it,” Gadkari said.