It authorised a search at the Delhi office of Ostro Bhesada Wind Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of ReNew Power, they said. The agency has also made enquiries at other companies, including Siemens Gamesa, which operates in wind energy space, the persons said.
“We are looking into underpayment of duty and misdeclaration in imports of some wind turbine parts in consignments from China resulting in tax evasion,” an official told ET.
A ReNew spokesperson said the enquiries were routine in nature.
“The information is factually incorrect,” a spokesperson said. “As a standard practice, DRI approached the company with some preliminary queries in relation to imports of flanges (a wind turbine component) made by the company in the ordinary course of business. We are responding with the information requested. It is an industry wide inquiry with no material impact on the company. Their queries generally were in respect to customs duty classification and import duty thereon.”
ET had asked the firm about DRI carrying out a search at Ostro Bhesada over misdeclaration of tariffs and alleged tax evasion.Siemens Gamesa did not reply to queries. The company imports forged tower flanges, a component of wind-operated generators.Ostro Bhesada is part of Ostro Energy Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of ReNew Power. It’s the primary entity that undertakes procurement and the supply of material for the wind segment of the company.
The government offers several fiscal and financial incentives, including customs duty concessions, on certain components of wind-driven generators. Typically, companies have to furnish a list of equipment to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. These can be imported duty free after the ministry approves.
The latest probe is in connection with “under declaration of duty on imports of certain components for wind power energy from China from 2021 to March 2023,” another official said.
The agency is examining if the imports were part of exempted list and eligible for concession.
