5 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Aug 19, 2026 11:47 PM IST
Former Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain leaves Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital after a medical examination following his arrest by Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in the alleged Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewage treatment plant (STP) tender corruption case, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab, enhanced with AI)
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) probe into the alleged multi-crore sewage treatment plant (STP) tender scam involving former Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain has found that tender conditions and the scope of work were changed to increase cost and benefit the company that won the contract, while money was routed through intermediaries allegedly linked to Jain and former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Udit Prakash Rai, The Indian Express has learnt.
Jain, Rai and four others were arrested on Tuesday in connection to the case.
According to sources in the ACB, its probe centres on a specific contract to upgrade Delhi’s STPs in 2022 when Jain was the Water Minister. Investigators have so far traced a money trail of around Rs 16 crore involving cash transactions and bank transfers, and recovered messages and documents that allegedly shed light on how the tender process was handled, they added.
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Besides Rai and Jain, the other accused arrested are DJB’s former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava; Nagendra Yadav, proprietor of AN Enterprises; Raj Kumar Kurra, owner of Euroteck Environment Private Limited and Pankaj Verma, proprietor of Srijanhar Enterprises.
While the companies have been linked to alleged manipulation of tenders, Rai has been accused of taking bribes worth Rs 1.5 crore.
Tender conditions
According to the ACB’s remand papers submitted before the court on Wednesday, the tendering process was allegedly manipulated to restrict competition and favour Euroteck Environment (EEPL), which was eventually awarded the contract to upgrade and augment five STP each in Nilothi, Najafgarh, Narela and Kondli between 2021 and 2022.
The agency claimed that initially, a relaxation of oxygen transfer efficiency requirements was proposed to encourage “wider competition” during the tendering process. This proposal was allegedly rejected after discussions between Jain and Rai.
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Instead, a condition requiring aerators with a minimum oxygen transfer efficiency of 4 Kg/Kwh was enforced. “This decision significantly reduced competition and allegedly favoured a particular technology provider, namely Euroteck Environment (EEPL),” the ACB alleged.
Further, the agency claimed that a pilot study was not conducted and a restrictive technology condition imposed to “restrict the competition”.
The ACB alleged that meetings were held on December 21 and 23, 2021, involving Jain and senior DJB officials, during which the terms of reference were prepared and it was decided that only fixed-media IFAS (Fixed-Film Activated Sludge) technology — an advanced wastewater treatment process used in STPs — would be considered for upgradation.
“Restrictive conditions of IFAS technology with only fixed media was imposed… which restricted the competition among the technology providers,” the ACB said, adding that no pilot study or trial run of IFAS technology was ever conducted before adopting it for large-scale implementation.
Scope of work and cost
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The ACB probe also centres on the inclusion of augmentation costs in a project that was meant to involve only upgradation at some STPs.
“During the probe, it was found that the cost of augmentation was included for the STPs where only upgradation was to be carried out. This directly benefited the company providing the technology,” a source said.
Upgradation improves the quality of treatment, while augmentation increases an STP’s capacity to process larger volumes of wastewater. Both involve the use of technology, manpower and equipment.
The ACB alleged that the technical proposal for augmentation of Rohini STP from 15 MGD to 25 MGD was altered by Jain “who approved enhancement to 30 MGD without any technical recommendation or feasibility study”.
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“Similarly, Rohini and Narela STPs were included in the project while Okhla Phase V STP was excluded, resulting in an estimated escalation of approximately Rs 123 crore,” it added.
The agency called the decision of Jain “arbitrary” and “taken without adequate technical justification”.
Link to Euroteck
According to sources in the ACB, Jain first met Kurra at his office in August 2021 regarding the deal. This was followed by a process in which Kurra allegedly secured the tender with the help of the other accused.
Further, the agency alleged that on December 22, 2021, a day after one of the meetings involving Jain and senior DJB officials, Euroteck entered into an agreement with Srijanhar Enterprises, a proprietorship concern of Verma, appointing it as an “authorised marketing agent entitled to receive commission at the rate of 3% of payments received by Euroteck from DJB tender works”.
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Verma is the nephew of Vinod Chauhan, who is a neighbour of Jain, the agency alleged.
Money trail
The ACB has so far traced around Rs 16 crore through cash transactions and bank transfers involving companies owned by Yadav and Verma, sources said. These transactions allegedly involved intermediaries known to Jain and Rai.
The agency has said that Rai had received bribes worth Rs 1.52 crore in his own and his relatives’ bank accounts through banking channels linked to a company owned by Yadav. The money was also allegedly used to purchase immovable properties, it said.
Further, the ACB probe found that Central Pollution Control Board norms relating to effluent discharge from the STPs were allegedly diluted.
Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.
Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.
Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.
Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.
Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.
Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations. Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.
1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006. He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail. was a branded man. Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst. However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation. The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.
2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No. 2 over the past two years alone. It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts. The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.
3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases. The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.
Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth. He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.
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