3 min readNew DelhiApr 25, 2026 04:37 AM IST
Two Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) under the C R Patil-led Union Jal Shakti Ministry on Friday referred two separate corruption cases involving their senior officials to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigation.
According to the ministry officials, the Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) and the National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC) wrote on April 24 to the CBI to investigate and file FIRs.
The NPCC has referred to the CBI for investigation into alleged “corrupt practice and demand of money against works” involving one of its Executive Director Dharmendra Mudgal. The NPCC has submitted an audio recording to the CBI, in which Mudgal and another NPCC official are allegedly discussing “amount of money”. Mudgal has now been placed under suspension with effect from April 23, said an official.
In a separate matter, the WAPCOS referred to the CBI a case of booking of turnover with the help of forgery and false documents by its own officials causing Rs 1.91 crore loss to the CPSE with respect to the North Koel Reservoir Project in Jharkhand.
In its preliminary investigation, the WAPCOS has found alleged involvement of four of its officials, including Chief Executive Director R K Agrawal, Senior General Manager Sanjay Sharma, Engineer Sarthak Saluja and Computer Operator Binay Kumar, according to the officials. Taking action against these officials, the WAPCOS terminated Agrawal’s lien, Saluja had resigned, Kumar was no longer in service, while Sharma had been suspended earlier this month.
The action by the WAPCOS and the NPCC against their officials is the latest in the series of measures taken as part of the anti-corruption drive in the both CPSEs. The action came after a nudge from Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil, who removed the then WAPCOS CMD Rajni Kant Agrawal and brought in for the first time an IAS officer, Shilpa Sachin Shinde, as his successor.
Last month, the WAPCOS had referred to the CBI for investigating an alleged case of fraud in execution work of a 100 MW solar plant at Patepur Vaishali in Bihar. The case involves five senior management-level officials of the WAPCOS. The WAPCOS has also initiated action against eight of its senior officials in an alleged case of fraud in the construction of Tamarind Processing Unit in Rayagada, Odisha.
