Kapil8217;s coal connections raise eyebrows

The question of Santosh Mohan Dev, former Union Minister for Steel and Mines influencing the deals has also come up since his son-in-law, Karun Dubey, worked for SAIL for 15 years and the two are close friends. The residence of Karun Dubey was also raided by the I-T Department last Thursday and sources say the question of a 8220;business nexus8221; between the two men was under investigation.

Glencore first began supplying coking coal to SAIL when Dev was the Minister and Karun Dubey was still employed in its corporate office. In fact, Kapil admits his company has been appointed consultant for several foreign firms dealing in coal but denies that Karun had anything to do with him securing the contracts. 8220;I never do business with friends. I have several professionals working with me for the coal and oil sectors and Karun is not one of them. Only Romi and I are the directors on the company,8221; he told The Indian Express before leaving for his week-long trip abroad.

It is understood that while Glencore was initially paying Kapil8217;s company 5,000 a month as consultancy fee, the sum was hiked to the present 15,000 as business grew. It is not known if Dev and Dev was securing additional commissions for the contracts they bagged.

SAIL sources say they have been annually importing Australian coal since the the mid-nineties and that the Australian variety was preferred due to its low ash content. They say Glencore was among the clutch of importing companies and that Kapil was frequently spotted in the SAIL headquarters, furthering the company8217;s claim. The company bagged its first contacts in spot-bidding around 1993 and was subsequently given long-term contracts by SAIL.

Karun Dubey, who currently finds himself in the eye of the storm because of his family8217;s political connections and since I-T bosses describe him as Kapil8217;s 8220;business associate8221;, also denies any role in assisting Kapil8217;s burgeoning trade in commodities. 8220;I have been staying away from all this and have never done any liaison work for securing coal contracts. And I have never worked with Kapil Dev,8221; he maintained.

Kapil Dev himself has been frequently spotted in the SAIL headquarters and is understood to have gone to Australia often to meet his principals. Sontosh Mohan Dev himself paid an extended visit to Australia when he was Minister, something sources described as 8220;unethical.8221;

In the wake of the Pokharan tests when relations between India and Australia were shaky, New Delhi did consider alternative sources of coking coal. SAIL is believed to have resisted, saying that the contracts with Australia have been time-tested and that the quality of the coke was very good.