CBI To Probe Rs 1,700 Crore Tata Realty-Unitech Land Deal

India’s apex investigating agency the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) to probe into an alleged Rs 1,700 crore land deal between Tata Realty and Unitech in 2007 to purportedly fund the latter's telecom project.

As per the highly-placed sources in the CBI, the Supreme Court has been informed about the probe that was being conducted to ascertain the actual purpose of the land deal.

The CBI has also revealed that it would be investigating the allocation of dual technology spectrum to Tata Teleservices in February 2008. According to the sources, these aspects were not probed during the earlier investigation into the 2G scam. They also added that a report will submitted to the Supreme Court once these aspects will be studied thoroughly.

According to Tata Realty spokesperson, the company was "not aware of any preliminary inquiry. We have explained our position on this issue in the past. We reiterate that we have comprehensively addressed questions from all government agencies and fully cooperated with all authorities in their investigations. We stress that we are committed to the highest standards of ethics and business conduct.” However, real estate firm Unitech refused to comment on the issue.

The agency will investigate whether the advance given by Tata Realty was used by Unitech for real estate projects or for a telecom licence pertaining to the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam. The CBI has already sought a copy of the report of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which had alleged that the realty deal between Tatas and Unitech in 2007 could have been aimed at funding Unitech's telecom licence.

The SFIO report alleged that the Rs 1,700-crore realty deal between Tatas and Unitech in 2007 could have been meant for funding Unitech's telecom licence issued in January 2008.