How 2021 Meetings Shaped Delhi Sewage Treatment Plant Tender Irregularities

Key decisions linked to the Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant tender case were taken in 2021, when Satyendar Jain was Delhi's Water Minister and months before his arrest in May 2022, sources have told NDTV.

The AAP leader was arrested Tuesday in connection with the alleged tender-manipulation case involving the augmentation and upgradation of sewage treatment plants (STPs) in the national capital.

Sources said Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge, or IFAS, technology was proposed for the augmentation and upgradation of Delhi's sewage treatment plants on October 7, 2021, and received in-principle approval from the AAP leader on October 14.

Meetings attended by Jain, then consultant Ankit Srivastava and then Delhi Jal Board CEO Udit Prakash Rai were subsequently held on December 21 and 23, sources said.

The Terms of Reference, or TOR, were finalised during the meetings, with IFAS with fixed media considered for 100 per cent of the upgradation, according to sources.

A proposal dated December 28 then led to a fresh estimate of Rs 1,546.32 crore for increasing the existing sewage treatment capacity from 215 MGD to 297 MGD, sources said.

Digital evidence, including WhatsApp chats, also indicates that confidential tender conditions and draft documents were being shared on the phones of accused individuals before the tender was officially issued, according to sources.

Jain was the sitting Delhi Water Minister during these developments and was not in custody. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a separate money laundering case in May 2022.

The 2021 Tender Trail

According to sources, the process began on October 7, 2021, when IFAS technology was proposed for the augmentation and upgradation of existing sewage treatment plants in Delhi.

The proposal received in-principle approval from Jain a week later, on October 14.

The process moved further in December, when meetings were held on December 21 and 23.

Jain, Srivastava and Rai attended the meetings, sources said, adding that the TOR were finalised with IFAS with fixed media considered for 100 per cent of the upgradation.

On December 28, a proposal by SC Vashishth, routed through Ajay Gupta and Udit Prakash Rai for approval, referred to the December meetings and led to preparation of the fresh Rs 1,546.32-crore estimate, according to sources.

The estimate was based on the TOR prescribing IFAS with fixed media and was for increasing existing capacity from 215 MGD to 297 MGD, sources said.

The Rs 1,546.32-crore figure also appeared later in Delhi Jal Board records. A DJB Board meeting in July 2022 dealt with ratification of administrative approval for a block estimate of the same amount, including capital and operating expenditure, for four packages of sewage treatment plants planned for upgradation.

That meeting took place after Jain's May 2022 arrest.

The source-based timeline, however, places the IFAS proposal, the in-principle approval, the meetings at which the TOR were finalised and the proposal leading to the Rs 1,546.32-crore estimate in October-December 2021.

WhatsApp Chats, Tender Drafts Under Scanner

Investigators are also examining electronic evidence linked to the tender process, sources said.

WhatsApp chats and other digital material indicate that confidential tender conditions and draft documents were being circulated on the phones of accused individuals before the tender was officially issued, according to sources.

Investigators are looking at who had access to the proposed conditions, when the documents were shared and whether private parties had access to tender-related information before it became public.

The Anti-Corruption Branch has alleged irregularities in the tendering process, including restrictive technical specifications and conditions that allegedly favoured Euroteck Environment Pvt Ltd.

The agency has also alleged that a proposed pilot study was not conducted, certain parameters relating to treated effluent were excluded and technical specifications were altered during the process.

The choice of IFAS technology with fixed media has also figured in the Enforcement Directorate's case linked to four Delhi Jal Board sewage treatment plant tenders.

The ED filed a prosecution complaint in December 2025 against Jain and 13 others, including former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former DJB member Ajay Gupta and former chief engineer Satish Chandra Vashishth.

The agency alleged that tender conditions were manipulated to restrict the process to IFAS technology with fixed media and that Euroteck became the sole technology supplier.

These are allegations by the investigating agencies and have not been established in court.

Arrest Sparks Political Row

Jain and five others were arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch in connection with the alleged Delhi Jal Board tender irregularities.

Those arrested include former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava and three private individuals.

The case stems from an FIR registered in May 2024 following a complaint by the Directorate of Vigilance over alleged irregularities, manipulation of tender conditions and criminal conspiracy in the sewage treatment plant tendering process.

AAP has rejected the allegations and questioned Jain's role, saying he was in jail at the time of the Jal Board tender.

However, the timeline, as per the officials, points to decisions that preceded the later tender process.

The IFAS proposal came on October 7, 2021, the in-principle approval followed on October 14, meetings at which the TOR were finalised were held on December 21 and 23, and the Rs 1,546.32-crore proposal followed on December 28, according to sources.

At each of these stages, Jain was serving as Delhi's Water Minister and had not yet been arrested.

Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Verma, reacting to Jain's arrest, said: "Power can delay accountability, but it cannot erase it. The irregularities in DJB's STP tendering process have now led to the arrest of former Minister Satyendar Jain. The chair may change. The files remain."

Virendra Sachdeva, former Delhi BJP President, also attacked AAP over the arrest, accusing the previous AAP government of manipulating tenders and taking commissions at the expense of public money, and said those responsible would have to answer for the alleged irregularities.

"The people of Delhi had already seen the reality of AAP. Now they will have to answer for every act of corruption," Sachdeva said, also targeting former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Jain, meanwhile, called it "vendetta politics" and linked his arrest to the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections.

"It is done because of Punjab elections," the former Delhi minister said after his arrest by the ACB.