Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan has demanded a thorough probe into an investigative documentary jointly done by Swedish public news broadcaster, SVT and German public TV, ZDF that describes serious cases of corruption by Swedish automaker Scania in India.
The Swedish automaker is owned by Volkswagen, a German company. Scania has two subsidiaries in India Scania India Pvt Ltd and Scania Commercial Vehicles India Pvt Ltd.
Prithviraj Chavan said, “Na Khaunga na khane dunga” was PM Modi’s key campaign promise which helped him win the Lok Sabha election. Such a scathing report by two reputed international government broadcasters of grave corruption in India seriously damages India's reputation as a nation and that of Prime Minister Modi in particular. I hope Prime Minister Modi will institute a thorough inquiry to find out the truth in this matter."
The SVT report names Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways, as one of the beneficiaries who received bribes. According to the report by SVT and ZDF, the minister received a modified luxury Scania bus for his daughter’s wedding in 2016.
According to an internal investigation report by Scania, Indian employees of Scania and independent consultants employed by Scania paid bribes to Indian officers and minister, during the period from 2013 to 2016.
The current CEO of Scania, Henrik Henrikson, has admitted “misconduct” by Scania India employees and contractors. According to him, “the system was bypassed by senior Scania employees in India''.
Incidentally, Scania was a latecomer in the Indian market and was trying to compete with Volvo during 2015-16. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bought 35 Scania buses in October 2015. Karnataka, KSRTC procured 50 buses while Bangalore Municipal Corp had ordered 500 AC buses with Scania.
Scania’ internal report indicates that “not a single bus was sold without a bribe”. This is a very serious allegation against Indian authorities and a Minister.
This incident of misconduct in India was taken very seriously by Scania. It has shut down its plant at Naraspura near Bangalore and Kolar.
Earlier, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari’s office termed these allegations as “malicious, fabricated, and baseless” of international media reports that Swedish truck and bus manufacturer Scania delivered a luxury bus to Gadkari for use in his daughter’s wedding in 2016.
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