SEBI’s grip on Suzlon Energy
Market regulator SEBI has given a big blow to the renewable energy sector giant Suzlon Energy. Reversing its own earlier order, SEBI has imposed a huge fine of Rs 28.95 crore on Suzlon and several of its former top officials. This matter is related to giving misleading information in the accounts and diverting money within the company. The company was given a clean chit in this matter in June 2025, but now SEBI has canceled it, saying it is against the interests of the stock market. It is very important for investors investing in Suzlon shares to understand how the financial condition of the companies has been shown to be better through paper juggling.
How long was the penalty lashed against whom?
According to the order issued by SEBI Whole-time Member Sandeep Pradhan on Friday, a direct penalty of Rs 15.95 crore has been imposed on Suzlon Energy Limited. Apart from this, former vice-chairman Vinod R Tanti, who was associated with the management, will have to pay a penalty of Rs 5.75 crore, Girish R Tanti Rs 5.45 crore, former CFO Kirti J Vagadia a penalty of Rs 1.5 crore, while Amit Aggarwal will have to pay a penalty of Rs 30 lakh. The regulator has given an ultimatum of 45 days to all the culprits to deposit this amount of fine. Actually, this entire action started after an anonymous complaint received in December 2019. On receiving the complaint, SEBI had appointed a forensic auditor to conduct an in-depth investigation of the financial documents from the financial year 2014-15 to 2020-21.
How were bumper profits shown on paper?
Many shocking facts came to light in SEBI’s detailed investigation. The root of the entire controversy is a deal of the year 2014. Suzlon sold its operations-maintenance business (OMS) to its subsidiary Suzlon Global Services Limited (SGSL) for Rs 2,000 crore. The surprising thing is that the actual net book value of this business was only Rs 77 crore. Through this transfer, the company registered a huge profit of Rs 1,923 crore in its balance sheet. SEBI alleges that Rs 1,300 crore of this deal did not come into the company from outside, rather this amount was circulated between Suzlon and SGSL in the form of loans and debentures. According to SEBI, in March 2017, Rs 150 crore was rotated six times and then Rs 100 crore was shown four times as payment on paper.
The game of double profits from the same asset
This series of financial juggling did not end here. After this, the shares of SGSL were transferred to another Suzlon company ‘Suzlon Structures Limited’. Another profit of Rs 829.78 crore was shown from this internal deal. These transactions were considered correct in the old order of SEBI. But the new order clearly states that showing huge profits at two levels by rotating the same asset within the group is a matter of serious concern. The investigation also touched upon several other financial matters such as liabilities of foreign subsidiary AE Rotary Holding BV, impairment reversal of SE Forge Limited, as well as suspicious movement of funds in Suzlon Gujarat Wind Park Limited.
It is wrong to mislead investors under the guise of rules and regulations.
The officer appointed in June 2025 had given a clean chit saying that all the legal processes like independent valuation, board approval and shareholders’ consent were completed for all these transactions. But SEBI officer Sandeep Pradhan made it clear that no company can escape its responsibility just by completing the paper process. If your financial results present a misleading picture to investors, it breaks market confidence. However, Suzlon has consistently denied all these allegations. The company’s argument is that all this restructuring was done at a time of immense financial pressure, which had no impact on their consolidated accounts.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and should not be considered as investment advice in any way. TV9 Bharatvarsha advises its readers and viewers to consult their financial advisors before taking any money-related decisions.
