The income tax department on Thursday carried out searches on the offices of infrastructure major GMR, which has developed the Delhi international airport among several other large projects.
Officials said searches were undertaken across several GMR offices in Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad on suspicion that the company had not disclosed all financial information. The operations were underway till late in the evening but details were sketchy. The order for the searches were issued from the tax department’s office in Bangalore, where GMR is headquartered.
"GMR Group would like to state that this morning; officials from the income tax department came to some of our offices to check our books. We are extending all assistance to the team of officials. We are confident that the officials will find our corporate practices and books satisfactory. At GMR Group, we follow the highest ethical and legal standards in our businesses… We are confident that these on-the-spot checks will vindicate the same," the company said in a statement.
GMR is the concessionaire for Delhi international airport. The Comptroller and Auditor General had recently said that the airport developer was extended undue benefits which added up to Rs 1.63 lakh crore. The company rejected the charges and said a share in the financial gains went to the government and all concessions were as per tender norms.
Earlier this week, activist Arvind Kejriwal had demanded a probe against several construction and real estate companies, including DLF, BPTP, Indiabulls and GMR.