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Essar Group Maoist Case

Presented By :Daksha Dixit PG-11-072Sumaiya Patel PG-11-099Nrupa Ranadive PG-11-103

• Essar Group is an Indian multinational corporation headquartered at Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

• The company has presence in sectors like steel, energy, power, communications, shipping ports, logistics and construction. Today, the Group continues to expand its global footprint, focusing on markets in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australia.

• Essar began as a construction company in 1969 and diversified into manufacturing, services and retail. Essar is managed by Shashi Ruia, Chairman – Essar Group and Ravi Ruia, Vice Chairman Essar Group.

Founder(s) Shashi RuiaRavi Ruia

Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Area served Worldwide

Key people Shashi Ruia (Chairman)Ravi Ruia (Vice-Chairman)Prashant Ruia (Group CEO)

Products Steel, oil and gas, power, communications, shipping, ports and logistics, projects, mineral, Real estates

Revenue US$ 27 billion (2012)

Profit US$ 2 billion (2011)

Employees 75,000 (2011)

Subsidiaries Essar Steel, Essar Steel Algoma, Essar Oil, Essar Shipping, Essar Hypermart, The MobileStore

• The Essar group a giant multinational with revenues of $20 billion, operates an iron ore beneficiation plant in Kirandul.

• It is in an area where The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is present.

• There came a news that a financial agreement between the Essar Group, and the Maoist was made to allow the company to operate an iron-ore processing facility in rebel-affected territories in Chhattisgarh.

• It was observed that this agreement was kind of protection money paid to the Maoist.

• The Essar case came to light with the arrest of B K Lala, a building contractor of the company, from a weekly village bazaar on September 9.

• Police claims he confessed to carrying Rs 15 lakh on behalf of Essar for the Maoists to be delivered through an alleged Naxal associate Lingaram Kodopi.

• Essar has a big plant at Baildadila in Dantewada to supply iron fines through its pipeline to Vishakhapatnam.

• The second largest slurry pipeline on earth was blasted by Maoists a few years ago and remained damaged for over a year until Lala was appointed the contractor. He got it repaired soon, amid allegations that the company paid money to Maoists

• The pipeline is occasionally targeted by the Maoists and subsequently allowed to function unhindered, prompting speculations of an agreement between the company and the Maoists.

• The company claimed its pipeline and plant had been damaged at least 15 times ever since they turned operational in October 2005.

• Essar does not mine iron ore in Dantewada but sources it from the waste dumps of government mining firm NMDC, mixes it with water and transports the slurry to Visakhapatnam through a 267km pipeline running through Maoist territory in Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

• Authorities, since then served notices to Essar and Jai Johar, a Jagdalpur based non-profit organization that carries out CSR activities funded by the company.

• The co-managers of Jai Johar, brothers Pawan and Narendra Dubey, went into hiding as soon as the notice was served.

• In the weeks that followed, the police also arrested Essar employee D.V.C.S. Verma, general manager of the company's plant in Dantewada on the basis of information purportedly provided by Mr. Lala in the course of his investigation.

• In a recent application before a Dantewada court, Lala claimed to have evidence against top officers of Essar against whom investigation is pending.

• In his application, Lala also claimed to have evidence against NGO Jai Johar Sewa Sansthan and its owner Pawan Dubey.

• Essar was allegedly routing its money under corporate social responsibility policy in Dantewada region through the NGO.

July 09, 2012

• Essar's former contractor in Dantewada, B K Lala, has decided to turn police approver in the alleged Maoist payoff case and disclose "evidence" against the company's alleged illegal activities in the Naxal-affected areas.

• Seeking pardon in the case, Lala's petition said: "Such disclosure and evidence will bring to light the modus operandi and activities of Essar, its owners and employees, and their criminal activities in the Naxal-affected areas."