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CHANDA KOCHHAR’S
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
( )
ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar quit the bank on October 4 amid
allegations of a conflict of interest. The Indian Express on March 29 had first reported that
Videocon group promoter Venugopal Dhoot provided crores of rupees to NuPower Renewables Pvt
Ltd (NRPL), a firm he had set up with Chanda Kochhar s husband Deepak Kochhar and two relatives,
six months after the Videocon group got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012. He trans-
ferred proprietorship of the company to a trust owned by Deepak Kochhar for Rs 9 lakh,
six months after he received the loan from ICICI Bank.

HERE IS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION
THAT UNEARTHED THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST
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March 29, 2018

Videocon gets Rs 3250-crore
loan from ICICI Bank, bank
CEO’s husband gets sweet deal
from Venugopal Dhoot
Promoter Venugopal Dhoot forms JV with Chanda Kochhar’s husband, loans Rs
64 crore, then hands him ownership of lending entity for Rs 9 lakh; ICICI Bank
declares Videocon account NPA. Sandeep Singh, Krishn Kaushik report.

From left to right: Managing Director of NuPower Deepak Kochhar, Promoter of Videocon
Group Venugopal Dhoot and CEO and MD of ICICI Bank Chanda Kochhar.

IN DECEMBER 2008, Venugopal Dhoot of the Videocon
Group set up a company with Deepak Kochhar, hus-
band of ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, and
two of her relatives; then gave a Rs 64-crore loan to
this company through a fully owned entity before he
transferred the latter’s ownership to a trust headed by
Deepak Kochhar for just Rs 9 lakh, an investigation by
The Indian Express has found.
In what raises questions of propriety and conflict of
interest, the transfer of the company to Deepak
Kochchar happened six months after the Videocon
Group got a loan of Rs 3,250 crore from ICICI Bank.
Almost 86 per cent of that loan (Rs 2,810 crore)
remains unpaid and Videocon account was declared
an NPA in 2017.
Sources have confirmed to The Indian Express that
the Dhoot-Kochhar-ICICI web of transactions is being
examined by investigative agencies.
A day after The Indian Express sent a detailed ques-
tionnaire to ICICI Bank for its response to its findings,
ICICI Bank issued a press release Wednesday evening
saying “there is no question of any quid pro quo/nepo-
tism/conflict of interest as is being alleged in various
rumours.” It said the Board “reposes full faith” in
Chanda Kochchar and added that “malicious and
unfounded rumours” were being spread to “malign

Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express 2

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Sources have confirmed to The Indian Express that the Dhoot-Kochhar-ICICI web of transactions
is being examined by investigative agencies.
the Bank.”
The statement, however, did not address the specif-
ic query from The Indian Express on Deepak
Kochchar-Venugopal Dhoot transactions or the conflict
of interest.
Consider the sequence of events and transactions, as per
records investigated by The Indian Express:
n In December 2008, Deepak Kochhar and Venugopal
Dhoot set up NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL).
Dhoot held 50 per cent stake in the company with his
family members and associates. Deepak Kochhar and
Pacific Capital owned by Deepak Kochhar’s father and
Chanda Kochhar’s brother’s wife held the remaining
50 per cent.
n In January 2009, Dhoot resigned as director of
NuPower and transferred his 24,999 shares in the
company to Kochhar for Rs 2.5 lakh.
n In March 2010, NuPower got a loan of Rs 64 crore (as
fully convertible debenture) from a company called
Supreme Energy Private Limited which was 99.9 per
cent owned by Dhoot.
n Following a sequence of transfer of shares from
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
Dhoot to Kochhar and then from Kochhar and his rela-
tives’ Pacific Capital to Supreme Energy, Supreme
Energy became a 94.99 per cent shareholder in
NuPower by the end of March 2010. Kochhar held the
remaining 4.99 per cent stake in NuPower at the time.
n In November 2010, Dhoot transferred his entire
holding in Supreme Energy, to his associate Mahesh
Chandra Punglia.
n Beginning September 29, 2012 to April 29, 2013,
Punglia transferred his holding to Pinnacle Energy, a
trust, where Deepak Kochhar was the managing
trustee. The total transaction value of the complete
transfer of shares from Punglia to Kochhar’s Pinnacle
Energy trust: Rs 9 lakh.
In effect, Supreme Energy gave a loan of Rs 64 crore
to NuPower and then got subsumed by Pinnacle
Energy within three years.
ICICI Bank did not respond to queries sent by The
Indian Express on these financial transactions, share
transfers between Dhoot/Videocon companies and
companies run by Deepak Kochhar, and on the issue of
conflict of interest.
But on the issue of loan granted to Videocon Group,
the bank said: “In 2012, a consortium of over 20 banks
and FIs where State Bank of India was the facility
agent (Lead) sanctioned facilities to the Videocon
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group (Videocon Industries Ltd. and 12 of its sub-
sidiaries/ associates as co-obligors) for a debt consoli-
dation programme and for the group’s oil and gas cap-
ital expenditure programme aggregating approximate-
ly Rs. 40,000 crore…ICICI Bank sanctioned its share of
facilities aggregating approximately Rs 3250 crore
which was less than 10% of the total consortium facili-
ty in April 2012.”
It further said “The current outstanding against this
loan is Rs 2810 crore and total current exposure to
Videocon group is Rs 2849 crore…The Videocon group
account has been classified as an NPA during 2017.”
When contacted, Venugopal Dhoot said, “On
January 15, 2009, I resigned as a director of NuPower
Renewables and Supreme Energy Private Ltd and sold
at par the 24,996 shares of NuPower and 9,990 shares
of Supreme Energy held by me, thereby relinquishing
my right, title and interests in the said shares, giving
up control and management of Supreme Energy and
completely disassociating myself from both the
Companies all on the same day, as I got too busy with
my other larger business like oil & gas, telecommuni-
cation, etc.”
NuPower stated the same in its response to the
email sent by The Indian Express.
However, Registrar of Companies filings of Supreme
Energy show that Dhoot owned it until October 2010
and then transferred his share holding to Punglia in
November 2010.
Nupower also said that it has no concern or connec-
tion with ICICI Bank’s lending to companies owned by
Venugopal Dhoot.
On the question of conflict of interest, a spokesper-
son for NuPower said: “There is no conflict of interest
whatsoever and the above transactions have nothing
to do with any loans processed by ICICI Bank. Pinnacle
Energy trust and Supreme Energy have no business
relationship with ICICI Bank.”
As of March 2017, for which latest RoC records are
available, Deepak Kochhar held an aggregate of 43.4
per cent in NuPower both as direct holding and
through Supreme Energy and Pinnacle Energy.
The remaining holding is with Mauritius-based DH
Renewables. As of March 31, 2016, Kochhar along with
Supreme Energy and Pinnacle Energy held 96.23 per
cent.
While the company came into existence in
December 2008, it announced net losses in last six
financial years. In the six years from FY’12 to FY’17, the
accumulated losses for NuPower amounted to Rs 78
crore. In FY’17 it posted a loss of Rs 14.3 crore.
Detailed responses from ICICI Bank, Venugopal Dhoot below
ICICI Bank
This refers to your email dated March 27, 2017
addressed to Ms. Kochhar and her team. I would like
to clarify that the purported allegations of conflict of
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
interest in your mail are completely baseless and
unfounded.
As a matter of practice, the Bank does not comment
on client specific issues. However, given the various
insinuations in your email, I give below the answers to
you questions.
SECTION A
Question 1. In 2012, ICICI Bank has not sanctioned
loans to the five companies mentioned in your
mail.The factual details of the loan facilities sanc-
tioned in April 2012 to the Videocon group are given
below:
A. In 2012, a consortium of over 20 banks and FIs
where State Bank of India was the facility agent (Lead)
sanctioned facilities to the Videocon group (Videocon
Industries Ltd. and 12 of its subsidiaries/ associates as
co-obligors) for a debt consolidation programme and
for the group’s oil and gas capital expenditure pro-
gramme aggregating approximately Rs. 40,000 crore.
B. ICICI Bank’s current exposure to the Videocon
group is part of this syndicated consortium
arrangement.
C. ICICI Bank sanctioned its share of facilities aggre-
gating approximately Rs. 3250 crore which was less
than 10% of the total consortium facility (including a
short-term loan of Rs. 650 crore as a sub-limit) in
April 2012.
D. The Information Memorandum (IM) and the ini-
tial due diligence for the financing programme was
prepared by the lead arrangers namely SBI CAPS and
IDBI Bank.
E. After the preparation of the IM by the lead
arrangers and after the sanction of the facilities by SBI
and IDBI Bank, the Credit Committee of ICICI Bank in
2012 sanctioned its share of facilities in the syndicat-
ed arrangement to the Videocon group.
F. This committee was chaired by the then
Chairman of ICICI Bank and it included many inde-
pendent and working Directors of the Bank. It is
important to note that Ms. Kochhar was not the
Chairperson of this committee.
G. The Terms and Conditions offered for these loans
are similar to those offered by the other banks in the
consortium, ruling out the possibility of any special
benefit to the borrower by ICICI Bank.
H. Please note that ICICI Bank’s share of the banking
sector’s exposure to the Videocon group was less than
10% while around 90% of the loans were sanctioned by
other banks and FIs.
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Question 2: The current outstanding against this loan
is Rs. 2810 crore.
Question 3: In 2012, no loans were granted to Tuskar
Overseas Inc. by ICICI Bank or any of its branches/ sub-
sidiaries.
Question 4: There is currently no loan outstanding to
Tuskar Overseas Inc. from ICICI Bank or any of its
branches/ subsidiaries.
Question 5. The total current exposure to Videocon
group is Rs. 2849 crore.
Question 6. The answer to this is the same as
Question no. 5
Question 7. The Videocon group account has been
classified as an NPA during 2017.
SECTION B
Your other questions do not pertain to us and our
clients, but given the insinuations made in your mail, I
would also like to state that none of the investors of
NuPower Renewables are borrowers of ICICI Bank.
SECTION C
I would also like to inform you that the Bank has a
well-structured and standardised credit approval
process, which includes a well-established procedure
of comprehensive credit appraisal, credit approvals
and monitoring. I am mentioning the details below:
A. The Credit Risk Management Group (CRMG),
which is independent of the business groups of the
Bank, evaluates and assigns a credit rating to the cred-
it proposals. A borrower’s credit rating is a vital input
for the credit approval process. Every proposal for a
financing facility is prepared by the relevant business
unit and reviewed and rated by the CRMG before
being submitted for approval to the appropriate
authority.
B. The Bank’s credit approval authorization framework
is laid down by the Board of Directors
C. The authorisation framework is risk based with
lower rated borrowers and/or larger exposures being
escalated to higher committees. The larger exposures
are approved by the Credit Committee of the Board
D. The majority of Credit Committee members are
independent directors of the Bank.
E. The Chairman of the Credit Committee, till as late
as June 2015, was always a non-Executive Director.
F. The functioning of the Credit Committee is closely
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
overseen by the Board of the Bank. The proceedings of
the Credit Committee are presented to the Board on a
periodic basis and the Board has clear supervision and
control on the decisions of the Credit Committee.
Based on the above, it can be observed that there
are multiple functions to appraise, rate and monitor
the credit decisions at the Bank. Accordingly, it can be
concluded that there are adequate checks & balances
in loan appraisal, rating and approval processes within
the bank, both from the control as well as from a gov-
ernance perspective. Given this architecture, no indi-
vidual employee, whatever may be his or her position,
has the ability to influence the credit decision at the
Bank.
All the details as mentioned above clearly demon-
strate that there is no conflict of interest as mentioned
in your mail.
We do not expect a responsible newspaper like you
to lend your platform to rumours to mar the reputa-
tion of an organisation and an individual. Hence, we
strongly urge you not to write or publish anything in
any form of media (print/digital/social media) which
projects ICICI Bank and/or its MD & CEO in poor light.
Trust this serves to clarify and dispel any misgivings
you may have on the subject. I am willing to speak to
you tomorrow for any further clarification.
MK Sharma
Chairman, ICICI Bank Ltd.
NuPower Renewables
At the outset we would like to say that we have no
concern or connection with ICICI Bank’s lending to
companies owned by Mr. Venugopal Dhoot.
The facts stated in your email are not correct. The
correct facts are explained below:
Answer no 1:
Mr. V N Dhoot resigned from the board of directors
of NuPower Renewables and Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd
on January 15, 2009, and on the same day he sold at
par his 24,996 shares of NuPower Renewables and
also sold to a third party his 9,990 shares of Supreme
Energy at par on account of being busy with other
engagements. Hence, he gave up control of Supreme
Energy and completely delinked himself from both
the companies’ w.e.f. January 15, 2009. Hence Mr.
Dhoot has no concern or interest with Supreme
Energy beyond January 15, 2009.
Supreme Energy’s investments in fully convertible
debentures (FCD) of NuPower Renewables of value Rs.
64 crores were allotted in March 2010.
At all times, Supreme Energy’s holding, on fully
converted basis, taking into account the equity shares
and other convertible securities held by other share-
holders/investors, was never 95% in Nupower
Renewables. Upon conversion of the FCD in March
2016 and conversion of convertible instruments held
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by other shareholders/investors, Supreme Energy’s
equity shareholding was just 10.1%.
Other than the said 24,996 shares subscribed at the
time of incorporation (which were subsequently sold)
neither Mr Dhoot nor Videocon held any shares in
NuPower Renewables.
The subscription amount of the fully convertible
debentures were used towards acquisition of wind
power projects.
Answer no. 2:
Pacific Capital sold 22,500 shares of NuPower
Renewables to Supreme Energy in June, 2009 at par
(which was at the then fair market value) since at the
time of incorporation Deepak Kochhar had subscribed
to shares and convertible instruments which were
subsequently converted into equity shares in March
2012.
Answer no. 3:
Pinnacle Energy trust purchased the 9,990 shares of
Supreme Energy at Rs. 10 per share from the then
existing shareholder on 29thSeptember, 2012 being
higher than the fair market value of Rs. 8.82 per share,
and then it further invested Rs. 8 lacs to subscribe to
80,000 shares of Supreme Energy in April 2013 at fair
market value by way of fresh investment.
At no time did the Pinnacle Energy trust along with
Supreme Energy ever hold more than 50% of the share
capital of NuPower Renewables (on as converted
basis).
Answer no. 4:
There is no conflict of interest whatsoever and the
above transactions have nothing to do with any loans
processed by ICICI Bank. Pinnacle Energy and Supreme
Energy have no business relationship with ICICI Bank.
Venugopal Dhoot reaction to queries
1. I was invited as an initial Director of NuPower
Renewables formed on 24th December 2008 due to
my experience in Solar Energy projects and subscribed
to 24,996 shares of NuPower at par.
However, on 15th January 2009, i.e. within 20 days I
resigned as a Director of NuPower Renewables and
sold at par the 24,996 shares of NuPower, and com-
pletely disassociated myself from NuPower
Renewables on that day, as I got too busy with my
other larger business like oil & gas, telecommunica-
tion, etc.
2. Besides the 24,996 shares of NuPower held by me
and sold off immediately being of value only Rs
2,49,960/-, neither Videocon nor me held any shares
in NuPower. Me and my family members did not own
50% in NuPower Renewables at all ever.
3. The allegation of conflict of interest is substance-
less and denied.
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
Loans are sanctioned by Banks including ICICI Bank
by a Committee of Directors before whom a detailed
Project Appraisal and Risk Analysis carried out by var-
ious departments of the Bank are presented for loan
sanction. Hence no individual can indulge in
favouritism. Further, our loan sanctioned by ICICI Bank
in 2012 was under a consortium of several Banks led
by SBI at the same terms as sanctioned by the consor-
tium Bankers. ICICI Bank took its share of the loan in
the consortium.
4. These five companies mentioned in your email,
i.e. Trend Electronics Limited, Century Appliances, Kail
Limited, Value Industries Limited and Evans Fraser &
Company had never ever been disbursed any funds in
April 2012 by ICICI Bank and they have no outstanding
dues to ICICI Bank or any other banks as on date.
The only funds sanctioned by ICICI Bank in April
2012 was to Videocon Industries Limited, which was a
sum of Rs.1500 crore under consortium funding of 20
banks with SBI as the lead and the sanction was on
the same terms and conditions of the other consor-
tium banks. With regard to Tuskar Overseas Inc, the
loan was disbursed in 2006 and there is no outstand-
ing as on date as it was paid off in 2010. The current
loan outstanding from ICICI Bank is only to Videocon
Industries Limited, being only Rs.1400 crore, which is
very small compared to other banks.
Part 2
Further to my email to you yesterday, I would like to
state that on 15th January, 2009, I resigned as a direc-
tor of NuPower Renewables and Supreme Energy
Private Ltd and sold at par the 24,996 shares of
NuPower and 9,990 shares of Supreme Energy held by
me, thereby relinquishing my right, title and interests
in the said shares, giving up control and management
of Supreme Energy and completely disassociating
myself from both the Companies all on the same day,
as I got too busy with my other larger business like oil
& gas, telecommunication, etc.
The said 9,990 shares of Supreme Energy duly sold
on 15th January, 2009 were handed over to the pur-
chaser along with transfer deed on the same day and
the consideration for the same was immediately
received by me from the purchaser.
Therefore I have no connect with the business of
Supreme Energy nor Nupower Renewables since
15thJanuary, 2009.
As explained above the initial 24,996 shares held by
me in NuPower Renewables were sold at Rs. 10 per
share. Besides these shares, neither Videocon nor me
held any shares in NuPower Renewables.
For all other information sought in your current
email, you may kindly contact NuPower Renewables
for the same.
With best regards,
V N Dhoot
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April 3, 2018

ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar

Chanda Kochhar’s brother-in-law advised

ICICI borrowers on their foreign loans
Avista Advisory, founded by Rajiv Kochhar, brother-in-law of Chanda Kochhar,
got mandate to restructure foreign currency-denominated debt deals worth
over $1.7 bn of 7 companies. Sandeep Singh, Krishn Kaushik report

WHILE ICICI BANK CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar’s
husband Deepak Kochhar’s transactions with
Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot are under the
scanner of investigative agencies, another potential
conflict-of-interest link has emerged, this time with a
Singapore-based financial services company founded
by Deepak Kochhar’s brother.
Avista Advisory, founded by Rajiv Kochhar, who is the
brother-in-law of Chanda Kochhar, got the mandate to
restructure foreign currency-denominated debt deals
worth over $1.7 billion of seven companies over the
last six years. All these companies were borrowers of
ICICI Bank at the same time.
In at least one of these deals, ICICI Bank was the
lead bank of the lenders.
According to disclosures made by Avista Advisory,

Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express 7

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the company acted as an advisor in restructuring debt
of Jaiprakash Associates, Jaiprakash Power Ventures,
GTL Infrastructure, Suzlon, JSL and Videocon Group.
In 2017, Avista acted as “Debtor Advisor” in the
restructuring of foreign currency convertible bonds
(FCCB) of Jaiprakash Associates amounting to $110
million. While Avista advised on the FCCBs, ICICI Bank
was the lead bank in the consortium of banks that
lent to Jaiprakash Associates.
Avista also acted as “Debtor Advisor” in the restruc-
turing of $200-million FCCB of Jaiprakash Power
Ventures Ltd. In this case, too, ICICI Bank was a lender
to the company and also received equity under the
corporate debt restructuring package.
FCCB is a convertible bond issued in a foreign cur-
rency. Market experts say that in many cases of
stressed assets in India, these were issued to prevent a
default in the domestic market.
In 2014, Avista was the “Creditor Advisor” for the
restructuring of $577-million worth of FCCB of Suzlon.
In the case of Suzlon, ICICI Bank was one of its
lenders.
In November 2012, Avista acted as “Debtor Advisor”
for FCCBs worth $306 million for GTL Infrastructure.
ICICI Bank was a lender to GTL Infra and took 29.3 per
cent stake in the company in July 2011 as part of the
loan restructure.
Another case where Avista acted as “Debtor
Advisor” was to Jindal Stainless in 2016 which was
also a borrower of ICICI Bank.
Avista mentions two loan restructuring deals
involving the Videocon Group on its website. Avista
acted as “Creditor Advisor” for two FCCB deals of
Videocon Industries worth $194 million and $97 mil-
lion in 2015 and 2016 respectively.
Responding to a questionnaire from The Indian
Express, an ICICI Bank’s spokesperson said: “We
would like to categorically state that ICICI Bank has
never engaged Avista Advisory Group for any services
at all. Your mail itself indicates that the said entity
claims to be an advisor to various corporates. You may
refer any query regarding Avista Advisory Group to
the firm and its clients.”
The spokesperson added: “Kindly also note that the
brother of a husband does not fall within the defini-
tion of a “relative” under the Companies Act, 1956 or
2013 or the Rules thereunder. Hence there is no
● ● ●
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
requirement of any disclosure of such a relationship
by any official of the Bank…In view of all the above,
your insinuation of conflict of interest is totally base-
less and malafide in intent.”
Responding to questions mailed to Rajiv Kochhar by
The Indian Express, Avista Advisory said: “There is no
conflict. The entire process of selection of “Debtor
Advisor” was competitive. We were chosen as a
“Debtor Advisor” in the restructuring of the FCCBs of
Jaiprakash Associates Limited, Jaiprakash Power
Ventures Limited and GTL Infrastructure Limited. In
these restructuring transactions, the “Debtor” of the
FCCBs were the respective Companies and the
“Creditor” were the respective Foreign Currency
Convertible Bondholders who are “Foreign Investors”
in these FCCBs. Avista advised the Companies in the
negotiation with these Foreign Investors in order to
restructure the FCCBs. Since the FCCB restructuring
transaction did not involve any negotiations between
the Companies and the “Domestic Lenders/ICICI
Bank”, there is no conflict of interest of whatsoever
nature.”
It further said, “There were no dealings with ICICI
Bank at all in any of the above transactions…We
would like to clarify that in the restructuring cases
handled by Avista Advisory, the firm has not interact-
ed with ICICI Bank in any manner or form. Further
during the course of the restructuring transactions
Avista has not raised or mobilized any funds for its
clients from ICICI Bank. Avista was involved in discus-
sion and negotiation only between the Indian
Company and the Foreign Creditors.”
On the Videocon case, Avista said: “In the two
Videocon deals referred in your email, Avista was
appointed by the Foreign Creditors (i.e. the Foreign
Investors in the FCCBs issued by Videocon) to restruc-
ture and recover the investment made by them in the
FCCBs. Accordingly, Avista acted as the “Creditor
Advisor” and was not the advisor to the Videocon
Group. We would also like to clarify that we repre-
sented the Foreign Investors and did not represent any
Domestic Lenders/ICICI Bank. These Foreign Creditors
who had invested in the FCCBs include some of the
leading Global Institutional Investors who had
appointed Avista in order to assist them to restructure
and recover the amounts invested by them in the
FCCBs.
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April 26 , 2018
Essar promoter kin’s firm
invested in Chanda Kochhar
husband’s company
NuPower, promoted by Deepak Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, between
2010 and 2012 got investments of Rs 325 crore from Mauritius-based Firstland
Holdings, a company owned by Nishant Kanodia, son-in-law of Essar Group
co-founder Ravi Ruia. Sandeep Singh, Krishn Kaushik report
WHILE INVESTIGATING agencies are probing invest-
ments by a Mauritius-based company into NuPower
Renewables, the company promoted by Deepak
Kochhar, husband of Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of
ICICI Bank, between 2010 and 2012, records of the
Registrar of Companies show that NuPower got invest-
ments of Rs 325 crore from Mauritius-based Firstland
Holdings, a company owned by Nishant Kanodia, son-
in-law of Essar Group co-founder Ravi Ruia.
The investments from Ruia’s son-in-law’s firm into
NuPower started in December 2010. Incidentally, the
same month ICICI Bank was lead banker in a consor-
tium of Indian banks that extended a $530-million
loan to Essar Steel Minnesota LLC on December 29,
2010. This loan was later classified as NPA.
n December 29, 2010: ICICI Bank, as mandated lead
arranger, extended loan of $530 million to Essar Steel
Minnesota LLC on behalf of the consortium
n December 31, 2010: Firstland Holdings invested Rs
49.90 crore in NuPower.
n August 3, 2011: Firstland invested Rs 8.69 crore in
NuPower
n October 3, 2011: Firstland invested Rs 99.25 crore in
NuPower
n March 21, 2012: Firstland invested Rs 166.5 crore in
NuPower
Responding to queries, Kanodia’s office said,
“Firstland Holdings had made investments in NuPower
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
in 2010 and 2011. This investment was sold in 2013 to
a private equity fund and Firstland recovered its full
investment.” The company added: “None of the
Kanodia group companies have any loans from ICICI.”
In its response, Essar Group said it had “not made
any investments in Firstland or NuPower.” Records
show that Essar Capital Holdings Limited did invest Rs
163.54 crore in Matix Chemicals and Fertilisers, a sub-
sidiary of Firstland Holding. This came in tranches: Rs
96.76 crore in December 2010 and Rs 66.78 crore in
August 2011.
Asked about these, an Essar Group spokesperson
said, “Essar entities have business dealings with Matix
Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. on arm’s length basis,
and these have no connection whatsoever with
NuPower.”
While ICICI Bank did not respond to a specific query
on whether Chanda Kochhar informed the board
about her husband’s financial dealings with kin of
Essar Group promoters and if she recused herself from
the loan approval process, it said, “With regards to
your query on Essar Steel Minnesota, we would like to
inform you that a consortium of seven Indian banks
including ICICI Bank had sanctioned loans to the enti-
ty. Also, large US funds gave loans to the company. Out
of the total debt of the company of USD 1.02 billion,
ICICI Bank’s share was less than 25%. Due to various
factors, the loan facilities provided to this project were
classified as nonperforming by all lenders. The resolu-
tion process pursuant to the same is under process.”
It also said: “We categorically state that ICICI Bank
has never sanctioned any loan to Matix Fertilisers and
Chemicals Ltd.” Queries sent to NuPower did not elicit
a response.
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June 21 , 2018
More conflict of interest?
Mumbai house of Kochhars has
Videocon connection
Income Tax probes acquisition of CCI Chambers apartment in Mumbai by
husband of ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar. Khushboo Narayan reports

The CCI Chambers in South Mumbai: This is where the Kochhar family lives.

THE INCOME Tax department is probing the acquisi-
tion of the current family residence of Chanda
Kochhar, the CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, in South
Mumbai by her husband Deepak Kochhar in a com-
plex transaction involving firms linked to Videocon
Group, sources have told The Indian Express.
The link between Videocon and the residence of the
Kochhars reinforces questions of propriety and con-
flict of interest that have dogged Chanda Kochhar and
are now the subject of an “independent” probe
announced by the ICICI Bank. On Monday, the bank
said she will be on leave until the probe is completed.
The tax department, sources said, is now probing
the transaction involving the acquisition of the flat at
45, CCI Chambers CHS Limited — it is in the
Churchgate area opposite the Cricket Club of India —
and has informed the Central Board of Direct Taxes
(CBDT) about its findings so far.
On March 29, The Indian Express first reported that
Videocon promoter Venugopal Dhoot provided crores
of rupees to NuPower Renewables Pvt Ltd (NRPL), a
firm he had set up with Chanda Kochhar’s husband
and two relatives six months after the business group
got Rs 3,250 crore as loan from ICICI Bank in 2012.
Dhoot transferred proprietorship of the company to a
trust owned by Deepak Kochhar for Rs 9 lakh, six

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months after he received the loan from ICICI Bank.
The Videocon account was declared an NPA or a bad
loan in 2017.
Tax authorities have found that the Kochhar fami-
ly’s residence since 1998 was bought through
Credential Finance Ltd, a financial services firm set up
by Deepak Kochhar and his brother Rajiv Kochhar in
the mid-1990s, sources said.
Due to financial stress, the company filed for liqui-
dation and was suspended from trading in 1996-97.
Seven members of the Kochhar family and Videocon
International had a stake of 2 per cent and 17.74 per
cent, respectively, in Credential Finance as on 2001.
In 2009, Videocon Industries Ltd (VIL) nominated
Quality Appliances Pvt Ltd, a firm with links to the
Videocon Group, to take over the flat from Credential
Finance in lieu of the final settlement of the amount
due to VIL from Credential Finance, sources said.
According to the agreement, Credential Finance
transferred the property to settle the money it had
taken from VIL. “After 2010, the same flat was re-
acquired by Deepak Kochhar at a price, which was
lower than the market price,” sources said.
The tax department, sources said, has recorded the
statements of all shareholders and directors of Quality
Appliances and Credential Finance in connection with
the case.
Reached for comment by The Indian Express,
Deepak Kochhar said he is the owner of the flat at CCI
Chambers since 1996. “The property belongs to me
since the beginning, and the conveyance deed and
share certificate of the property are in my name. I have
given all the clarifications to the department,” he said.
In an email response to queries from The Indian
Express, Venugopal Dhoot said: “The flat at 45, CCI is
purchased and owned by Mr Deepak Kochhar since
the very beginning over 20 years back. The said flat
was never mortgaged to Videocon Industries Ltd. We
have no concern with the said flat.”
According to documents with the Registrar of
Companies (RoC), Quality Appliances Pvt Ltd, which
owned the flat at CCI Chambers after it was trans-
ferred from Credential Finance in 2009, is now known
as Quality Techno Advisors Pvt Ltd. The registered
office of the firm is 618, Nariman Point in Mumbai,
which is also the office of NuPower Renewables Pvt
Ltd, the company promoted by Deepak Kochhar.
Quality Techno Advisors is now an advisory firm
owned by Deepak Kochhar.
● ● ●
Copyright © 2018 The Indian Express
RoC documents show that Quality Appliances was
set up in 2008 with Vilas Salunke and Kavishwar Patil
holding 5,000 equity shares each. The firm’s registered
address was in Andheri in suburban Mumbai, which
was also the head office of Videocon
Telecommunications Ltd.
Both Salunke and Patil have been directors of vari-
ous Videocon Group firms such as Videocon Industrial
Finance Ltd, Videocon VCR Securities Ltd, Videocon
Mining Ltd, Videocon Securities Ltd, Pacific Appliance
Manufacturing and Trading Ltd, Dhoot Entertainment
and Gaming Solutions Ltd and V N Communication
Systems Ltd.
According to the RoC documents, in 2009-10,
Quality Appliances acquired an office premises for Rs
3.54 crore, and changed its registered office address in
the official records from Andheri to 45, CCI Chambers
in South Mumbai.
In March 2010, three companies promoted by
Videocon Industries — TekCare India Pvt Ltd, Evans
Fraser & Co Ltd and Nippon Investment and Finance
Company Pvt Ltd — together were allotted equity
shares of 1 lakh at a premium for Rs 3.5 crore and
became the majority shareholder of the company
holding 90.91 per cent stake. The remaining stake was
held by Salunke and Patil.
The company, according to its 2011 annual report,
said that it “gave performance guarantee in favour of
Supreme Energy Pvt. Ltd on behalf of NuPower
Renewables Ltd worth Rs 7 crore” that was valid up to
March 31, 2013. Quality Appliances also said that the
purchase of the office premises in 2009-10 is shown
as an investment in its accounts.
In 2012, the TekCare India, Evans Fraser & Co and
Nippon Investment and Finance Company sold their
90.91 per cent stake to Patil and exited Quality
Appliances. This took the total shareholding of Patil to
95.45 per cent.
In 2013, Quality Appliances changed its name to
Quality Techno Advisors Pvt Ltd and Patil continued to
hold 95.45 per cent stake in the firm until March 2016,
according to RoC documents.
According to the latest available financial docu-
ments of March 2017, the firm is owned completely by
Deepak Kochhar through Quality Advisors (Trust). The
company has also made a provision of Rs 3.5 crore (50
per cent liability) towards the Rs 7 crore guarantee
that it gave in favour of Supreme Energy Pvt Ltd on
behalf of NuPower Renewables Ltd in 2010-11.
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