Rolls Royce bribed officials in government companies in India, says premier investigation agency

• UK-based Rolls Royce plc has reportedly been booked for cash over contracts worth ₹4700 crores.
• Reports say that the charges come from the company's businesses with HAL,ONGC & GAIL.
• In February, the UK government dropped corruption charges against Rolls Royce in India.

The UK-based company Rolls Royce has been charged with corruption in India. According to a Times Now alert, Rolls Royce plc has been booked for cash over contracts worth ₹4700 crores.

According to ANI, the company paid ₹75 crores to officials.

In February, reports had said that the UK government had dropped corruption charges against Rolls Royce in India. However, the issue has cropped up again as media reports have suggested that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Rolls Royce of bribing officials from the state-owned companies likes Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,oil and gas explorer ONGC & and gas distribution major GAIL.

"“We are aware of reports that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India has announced a First Information Report relating to the use of intermediaries by Rolls-Royce’s former Energy business in India. This is not about our Defence, Civil Aerospace or Power Systems businesses. We await contact from the CBI and will respond appropriately. We will not tolerate business misconduct of any sort and we are committed to maintaining high ethical standards and no-one currently working for Rolls-Royce in India played any part in these Energy deals. India is an important market for Rolls-Royce and we have a valued workforce of skilled people in the country,” said a Rolls Royce spokesperson.

Rolls-Royce Holdings Limited's subsidiary has been working on gas turbine technology in India. Rolls Royce is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines as well. However, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BMW Group.

“We are working very closely with defence organisations — MoD, DRDO, NAL, HAL — on how to co-create products and solutions for the Indian market, because at the end of the day, the future is going to be about India owning the IP. Joint IPs between countries are the way to go,” Kishore Jayaraman, President, South Asia, Rolls-Royce Plc. had told the media recently.