A LOOK INSIDE FAKEER'S JHOLA
Metro Projects: Debt, Debt Everywhere
Not a single asset to trust
Looking deeper into Infrastructure building tender awards, we find that lots of High-cost Metro rail projects were awarded to Electoral Bond buying companies. Were they bribes? Was that extortion? Or just mere coincidences, as buffoon-filled Government-licking Sham of Indian Media like to call!!!
First things first, from where does Indian Government getting the Money to fund the infrastructure projects?
Answer is quite simple:
Loans from Foreign Financial Institutions like Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), ADB (Asian Development Bank), EIB (European Investment Bank), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, French Development Agency, KfW Development Bank of Germany and Even Korean Exim Bank has given loans to India. "Soft loans" is what Godi Media and parrot type economists would like to call them, they are long term loans which means even your grandchildren have to pay back for the amenities that you are going to enjoy.
At this point of time, it is important to remind you that all urban transportation infrastructure are actually Long-term consumable and they depreciate highly with age .. it's not build once, last forever kind of asset. With age and change in technology, taste and demography .. these investment would turn into liabilities.. but because of long term periods.. India will still have to pay these foreign debts ... long after both Modi and myself are dead and forgotten. What if we don't pay then, you have seen the results of defaulting on foreign debt (coming close to it) in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Greece, Portugal, Italy! So you see, the so called self-reliant India or "Atma Nirbhar Bharat" propaganda is just cheap sloganeering.
Among these lenders, EU's own "European Investment Bank" is most open in their declaration. For just 6 Metro rail projects , they have loaned 2.95 billion euros to India:
- Agra - 450 million euros
- Bangalore, Line R6 - 500 million
- Bhopal - 400 million
- Kanpur - 650 million
- Lucknow - 450 million
- Pune - 500 million
Should we be building such infrastructure with a sovereign credit rating of BBB-? Absolutely NO. As for the projects that have started We Must Ensure There Is No Corruption Of Any Sort, be it Kickbacks, Bribes or Extortion!
Now for this institutional lenders, the scenario is sweet indeed, on their home turf, there are no places left to build infrastructure of big scale, so they lend to the most gullible and greedy in developing world. Some of the smaller cities have no means of generating revenue in such huge numbers to repay the debt. This is Malthus' nightmare on steroids.
If that was one end of credit spectrum, on the other end, we find debt ridden infrastructure construction companies.. now the simple question is:
If India has taken hundreds of Billions of dollars in loan and if the infrastructure building companies are good; why are they debt ridden?
Is Government not paying the contractors in time? What are they doing in the loaned money?
If Government is paying on time, then why every single infrastructure company carrying borrowing charges for 5 - 10 years?
KALPATARU PROJECTS: A most curious case of debts and Electoral Bonds and project wins.
135,739,715,849
Yes, they have Rupees 135,739,715,849 or 135,73 crore 97 lakh 15,849 as outstanding charges.
Largest charges held by : Government owned "Indian Bank", value is : 9135 crore.
This is strange because they were and still are a major real-estate developer in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), where real-estate is one of the costliest and most profitable for the developers.
You would be surprised to know that the real estate arm of Kalpataru group is carrying a outstanding debt charges of 142,610,317,192. In world's most profitable real-estate market, where apartments gets sold before they are completed; they need mammoth sized borrowings for running capital? Huh.. that's their argument? Is it!
I'm not venturing into kalpataru's other group companies and checking their debt positions in the Mortal fear that the aggregate might surpass Indian GDP. After all, Kalpataru is the mythical name of a wishing tree, whenever they wish for Money they get it.
Full name of Kalpataru Projects is Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPIL), they call themselves "International" because Kalpataru Limited is based in Bandra, Mumbai (Bombay) and they are registered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. We would stick to KPIL in this discussion as they are the one that bought Electoral Bonds and donated to BJP.
But did you know or remember that what was Kalpataru projects International called before they came to be known as KPIL? Drumrolls please.. 🥁🥁🥁
Let's attempt to build a chronology of KPIL's Bond purchases:
On 7th April 2023, Kalpataru Projects International Limited (KPIL) bought 10 Electoral Bonds(EBs) and gave them to BJP. BJP encashed them on 12th April
So SBI knew about these name changes before hand as although "powerline" post clearly stated that the name change is effective from 22nd May, 2023 ... Those KYC formalities, they were completed beforehand, right SBI? But both Indian public and Indian Godi Media remained unaware of it.
On 12th April, renowned pamphlet writer for the corrupt and the pioneer of yellow journalism in India, Economic times places heaps of praise and platitudes on Kalpataru Power Transmission Limited..
So apparently a Power Transmission company was getting Water supply projects in India, Doing civil construction for a Data Centre and construction orders of 754 crore from Indian railways. Ha ha ha!
Did this corrupt Newspaper mention about the borrowing charges of KPTL ? Get lost .. ha ha ha.. Someday I'll tell you about the open charges of these news groups. Even Economic times was unaware that their blue eyed boy, KPTL is changing its name to KPIL.. Of course, they'll NEVER EVER TELL YOU that Kalpataru Power (or Projects, whichever name you call it) had acquired a stake of "ADANI TRANSMISSION LIMITED" (ATL) and extremely debt ridden ATL has given loans to KPTL to register borrowing charges amounting to rupees 211 crore 69 lakh 08 thousand and 513.
What is imminently important, KPTL had pledged some ATL shares to Axis Trustee Services Limited (a fully owned financial services wing of Axis Bank), for borrowing 837 crores. Are they same ATL shares or different, we don't know, charge database doesn't give that detail.
What was the gratifying need for this Electoral Bonds gift to BJP?
Is it to facilitate the name change, so that the extremely gullible would buy its stock seeing "International" in its name?
Apparently that trick has worked.. stock prices doubled in 10 months and more .. Thank you gullible retail investors..
Changing Name just 3 months after listing in NSE is indeed a BJP style Masterstroke. Ha ha ha..
Now the real reason was somewhat different, in February, UP Metro rail tender bids were invited.. and they wanted to get in .. and these Electoral Bonds were not the only spending they did..
It's all about, Metro Rail projects.. this time Kanpur Metro Line 2. Never mind that EBs are now being sold for Rajasthan Election, KPIL bought another set of 10 EBs of 1 crore denomination on 5th of July and gave all of them to BJP.. who encashed them on 10th July. It's all listed in page 409 of the Bond redemption PDF.
Some Analysts linked this bond purchase with IT raid with Kalpataru Limited, the Mumbai based Real-estate company of the group .. But the reality is : Kalpataru Limited is headed by "Parag Mofatraj Munot" as MD and Kalpataru Projects International Limited is headed by "Manish Dasarathmal Mohnot" as MD. Part of same extended family and business group, but separate in business Ideology and english spelling of their family surname.
Let me explain with another example of their other group company's Electoral Bond purchase in 2019. Yes, JMC PROJECTS INDIA LTD bought 5 Electoral Bonds worth 1 crore each, they gave 3 crore to BJP and 2 crore to Congress.
This JMC projects India later merged with parent company, Kalpataru Power transmission Ltd which later became Kalpataru Projects International Limited.
Munot led Kalpataru Limited wasn't paying in Electoral Bonds and got raided in August, 2023 amidst much fanfare of Trash Godi Media.
Real reason of 5th July purchase of Electoral Bonds and 10th July Encashment by BJP was the opening of Technical bids of Kanpur Metro; It is after all UP, if the question papers of recruitment exams can be leaked, why not the tender bids of L&T.
Anyway, KPIL and its strange new partner Turkish Gulermak (which these days operate mainly, if not only in India) passed Technical bid scrutiny, just as BJP encashed 2nd tranche of 10 crore in Electoral Bonds. BJP will say, "These are mere coincidences" ..
Well, there are more coincidences in store..
On 10th October 2023, KPIL bought 5 Electoral Bonds of One Crore denomination and 5 Electoral Bonds of Ten lakh denomination .. a total of 5.5 crore or 55 million and all of them were given to BJP. BJP encashed them on 16th October.
I present you the Screenshot of Page 473 of Bond Redemption PDF for 1 crore Bonds.
For 10 lakh redemption proof, I present screenshot of page 475 of the bond redemption PDF.
Just 2 days after BJP's bond redemption, Gulermak-KPIL JV win Kanpur Metro Contract..
Magic, Magic, Magic
ELECTORAL BOND MAGIC!!!
And the wide range in Financial Bids are also quite surprising, if I quote from this Construction centric magazine..
"Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) had invited bids for this contract in February 2023 with a Rs. 1025 crore estimate and 30 month deadline.
Technical bids were opened in July to reveal 9 bidders. During evaluation, DRA – Soma JV and Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC)’s bids were found non-compliant to the tender conditions and were disqualified."
Gulermak's former partner SAM India bids 947 crores, L&T bids 990 crore, JKIL 941, TPL 895 crore but KPIL- Gulermak 762 crore..
That's 25 percent below UPMRC estimate! Do they intend to do a quality job or just delay and add fresh bills to hike the project cost later? Only time will tell.
What KPIL will not be able to do however is to buy more Electoral Bonds and influence or delay project milestones in Future.. No more coincidences! Huh!
Not Just Kanpur Metro Contract, Gulermak - KPIL JV won Bhopal Metro contract too.
In May 2023, MPMRCL invited tenders and in October 2023 they opened the technical bids .. and in February 2024, they bagged the Bhopal Metro Rail Contract too. I'm sure KPIL had plans of buying more Electoral Bonds and gifting them to BJP. Poor thing, Supreme Court order destroyed their order procurement plans.
Now I have established that KPIL is based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and their cousin company, Kalpataru Limited in based in Mumbai. So technically KPIL-Gulermak JV must be Gujarat also, right? Let's check:
WHAT THE FU... That's Kalpataru Limited's Mumbai office, the same building raided by Modi's Income Tax (Artillery Brigade) with much pomp and vigorous Cheerleading from Modi loving Godi Media.. See for yourself:
Like this one from Godi Media "India Today"
OMG ... OMG ... large scale tax evasion and detection of bogus bills worth Rs. 600 crore by the group.
Have you seen any Headline like :
EIB funded Metro projects in Jeopardy as Kalpataru Group win Kanpur & Bhopal contracts
Or
Tax fraud Kalpataru group company wins 2nd big Metro Rail project Contract: Bhopal after Kanpur.
No.. Reason is : the media barons of India are as corrupt as all the barons in infrastructure sector.
In their books also, "Debt, Debt everywhere Not a single asset to trust "
Electoral Bonds is not just the biggest scam but the most messy scam !!
ReplyDelete