Tilaknagar Industries, a notable player in India’s alcohol industry, found itself in the limelight for all the wrong reasons after the Andhra Pradesh filed its chargesheet in the keenly-watched liquor scam in the state. Tilaknagar was named in the case along with a number of other industry peers, all of which have been implicated in alleged cases of various sharp practices and kickbacks related to liquor trade.The Andhra case is reminiscent of the Delhi liquor scam case that played a major role in bringing the Kejriwal government down.The chargesheet on the alleged Rs 3,500 crore scam mentions former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as one of the recipients of the kickbacks. However, the 305-page document didn’t directly name him as an accused.The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged liquor scam has arrested YSRCP Lok Sabha member PV Midhun Reddy on July 21, after grilling him for hours.What Andhra liquor case chargesheet revealsThe police alleged that the key accused brought out the new liquor policy during the previous YSRCP regime with an “underlying intent of having full control over the supply and sale of liquor”. This helped them achieve their goal of earning commissions/kickbacks between 2019 till 2024, they said.According to the chargesheet, Tilaknagar Industries paid an estimated Rs 218 crore to a syndicate as kickbacks “based on the quantity and price pushed through Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL)”. These kickbacks were allegedly paid in return for an income of about Rs 1,472 crore that the company earned from APSBCL, it said.The Andhra Police chargesheet has sought to link a number of “suspicious” transactions to the company. The money, which the chargesheet says was received from APSBCL, was alledgedly converted to “untraceable liquid cash” through four jewellery companies.Andhra liquor ‘scam’: More key detailsThe investigators have accused Tilaknagar Industries of misusing its position and influence in the Andhra state alcohol body in order to push its business interests, eventually securing a major sales boost. In order to retain this competitive edge, the chargesheet says, Tilaknagar routed some part of its legitimate revenue to some jewellery merchants. The gold received in return for these funds was systematically passed on to the syndicate.”This gave the transactions a veneer of legal GST-compliant business expense, while effectively converting white banked money into untraceable black assets,” the chargesheet adds.Shares of Tilaknagar Industries, the maker of the Mansion House brandy and whisky and Blue Lagoon gin, defied the negative publicity to register sharp spikes on July 21 and 22. At around 1 pm on July 22, the stock was trading at over Rs 454, a 7+ per cent jump over the previous day.
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How Tilaknagar's name came up in AP scam
