ED Hyderabad attaches Rs. 404.7 crores in YS Jagan, Dalmia Cements quid pro quo case
Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Hyderabad, has provisionally attached assets worth ₹404.7 crore in connection with a money laundering case involving former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Dalmia Cements (Bharat) Limited (DCBL). The case relates to alleged quid pro quo investments made over a decade ago.
As per the ED, shares worth ₹27.5 crore belonging to Jagan Reddy have been attached. These include shares in Carmel Asia Holdings Limited, Saraswati Power and Industries Private Limited, and another firm. Additionally, the agency has attached land valued at ₹377.2 crore owned by DCBL. However, the company has stated that the actual value of the attached land is ₹793.3 crore.
The attachment order, dated March 31, 2025, was received by DCBL on April 15. It follows a case initially registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2011.
The case centers on an alleged investment of ₹95 crore by DCBL in Raghuram Cements Ltd., a company represented by Jagan Reddy. Investigators allege this investment was in exchange for favors from the Andhra Pradesh government, including the grant of a 407-hectare mining lease in Kadapa district.
According to the ED and CBI, an agreement was reached between Jagan Reddy, his auditor and former MP V. Vijaya Sai Reddy, and DCBL’s Puneet Dalmia to sell their shares in Raghuram Cements to French company PARFICIM for ₹135 crore. Of this, ₹55 crore was allegedly paid to Jagan Reddy in cash through hawala channels between May 2010 and June 2011. These details were found in materials seized by the Income Tax Department in New Delhi.
Investigating agencies further allege that DCBL returned the sale proceeds to Jagan Reddy in cash, indicating the original ₹95 crore investment was not genuine but an illegal gratification for favors granted by the state government.
The CBI had filed a chargesheet in the case on April 8, 2013, naming Jagan Reddy and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. DCBL was listed as Accused No. 3.
Authorities also claim to have recovered evidence of a plan to transfer an additional ₹139 crore to Jagan Reddy’s firms through hawala channels, of which ₹55 crore had already been moved. The remaining amount was not transferred due to the CBI’s intervention following a court order to investigate the matter.
The case includes the alleged transfer of a mining lease from Eswar Cements to DCBL, which forms a key part of the charges. Investigation into the case is ongoing.
