The Income Tax department has conducted a multi-location raid on real estate giant Hiranandani Group for suspected tax evasion.

The raid is being conducted in three cities including Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. According to a source, the raid began early morning on Tuesday on at least 24 locations. These locations also included residences of the top management. “The IT department’s officials are also questioning the top management including Mr. Hiranandani himself,” the person said.

The Hiranandani Group did not comment on the matter. 

Multiple instances

A source in the IT department said that, “There are allegations that there have been multiple instances of tax evasion related to assets in India and abroad. The allegations not only pertain to the parent company but also its subsidiaries, and trusts.”

The conglomerate has businesses in multiple sectors including real estate, health, education, energy and hospitality and technology. 

Hiranandani Group was founded in 1978 by the two brothers; Niranjan and Surendra Hiranandani. However, recently, both the brothers have divided some of the joint realty projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

According to reports, post the divide, Niranjan Hiranandani will own 250-acre township in Powai, while Surendra Hiranandani will receive 350-acre township project in Thane.

Pandora papers

Last year in October, names of Niranjan Hiranandan and a few key members of his family were named in the Pandora papers which had said that they were beneficiaries of a Trust with assets of over $60 million. BusinessLine was unable to confirm if the said raids were related to the Pandora papers.

A CBDT spokesperson remained unavailable to comment.