India: The Oriental Bank of Commerce has raised allegations of ‘mismanagement and siphoning of public money’ at Calcom Cement in a letter sent to its lenders, according to Business Line. The bank was quoting allegations made by Bawri Group.
Together Bawri Group and Dalmia Bharat Group run Calcom Cement, a 2.1Mt/yr cement plant in Assam, as a joint venture. Dalmia Bharat owns a 76% stake in Calcom through its subsidiary Dalmia Cement Bharat.
The letter, dated 14 January 2016, was addressed to Axis Bank, lead lender in a consortium of lenders to Calcom. It stated that, “affairs at CCIL (Calcom) are not being managed in a prudent manner and (there have been) several financial irregularities including fund diversion through circular transactions.” Axis Bank declined to comment on an individual account. Dalmia Bharat said it would not speak to the media, pending arbitration proceedings with the Bawri group.