Power Finance Corp wants E&Y debarred

The Indian arm of the global consultancy firm Ernst & Young, however, denied any wrong doing saying it had adhered to all the guidelines.

Amid the controversy after selection of Lanco Globeleq consortium as the successful bidder for the 4,000 Mw power project in Madhya Pradesh, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had asked the power ministry to get into the act. The project was later awarded to Anil Ambani group's Reliance Power.

Acting on a direction from ministry in november last year, the PFC's vigilance wing had probed the issue pertaining to "professional conduct of E&Y and alleged omissions and commissions" of various committees involved in evaluation of the bids for the project.

Pointing to "major lapse" on part of E&Y and the bid evaluation committee, the Chief Vigilance Officer of PFC said in his report: "

It is suggested that PFC/ministry of power may initiate a process for debarring M/s E&Y from bidding for projects under the purview of ministry of power."

When contacted, PFC Chairman V K Garg and director Shyam Wadhera, who was also the chairman of the Board of Sasan Power Ltd declined to comment on the vigilance report.

A spokesperson for E&Y told PTI in an emailed statement "E&Y is not aware of the said report. We maintain that E&Y has adhered to all the guidelines with regard to the selection process."