The scam-tainted Saradha Group has defaulted Rs 186 crore to a consortium of seven public sector banks led by Indian Bank, for its dummy two-wheeler manufacturing facility in West Bengal.
Taken over from the city-based Xenitis group in end 2010, Saradha never produced a single two-wheeler from the plant. It was used as a showpiece by the group to draw admiration of the depositors about the group’s varied interests. Global Automobiles had 200 employees on the shopfloor and a few management cadre employees.
According to at least two bankers, the loan has been reported as a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2011. A possession notice for liquidation of asset was sent to Saradha group a week ago.
Apart from Indian Bank, the consortium includes State Bank of India (SBI), Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Patiala and Punjab National Bank.
In a letter to the CBI, the Chairman and Managing Director of Saradha Group alleged that he was given false impression by the sellers that the plant was operational. He also accused that the previous owners for inflating the project cost in connivance with some bank officials.
Banking sources, however, say that on behalf of previous owners, Santanu Ghosh is a “guarantor” in the loan agreement.
Meanwhile, in a mail received by Business Line , one Rahul Jain from Rajasthan, claims to have been duped of around Rs 60 lakh that he had invested in Global Automobiles.