New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday said that it has compounded foreign exchange law violations by real estate developer BPTP Limited and two of its directors, Kabul Chawla and Sudhanshu Tripathi, after the company agreed to pay a total compounding amount of Rs 4.84 crore in connection with foreign direct investment (FDI) transactions dating back to 2007 and 2008.
The case originated from investigations conducted by the Enforcement Directorate’s Gurugram Zonal Office into FDI received by BPTP Limited, formerly known as Business Park Town Planners Private Limited.
The probe examined investments of around Rs 537.5 crore received from Mauritius-based entities CPI India I Ltd. and Harbour Victoria Investment Holding Ltd.
“Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued compounding orders on 17.09.2026 in exercise of powers conferred U/s 15(1) of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 and the Regulations/ Rules/ Notifications/ Orders made thereunder, in the case of M/s. BPTP Limited (Formerly known as- M/s. Business Park Town Planners Private Limited) and its directors namely, Kabul Chawla and Sudhanshu Tripathi,” it said.
According to the findings, BPTP received approximately USD 77.67 million (around Rs 322.5 crore) from CPI India I Ltd. on August 21, 2007 and USD 49.84 million (around Rs 215 crore) from Harbour Victoria Investment Holding Ltd. on July 9, 2008.
Investigators found that the investment agreements contained clauses relating to put options and assured internal rates of return (IRR), which were not permissible under the applicable FEMA provisions governing FDI at the time.
The Enforcement Directorate alleged that the company had received foreign investment under the automatic route while offering investors assured returns through swap and put option arrangements.
Such agreements were considered to be in contravention of provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, and related regulations governing the issuance of shares to foreign investors.
The agency also found that BPTP had allegedly invested about Rs 320 crore of the foreign investment received from CPI India I Ltd. in fixed deposits and mutual funds instead of deploying the funds in its projects, as required under the terms of the investment agreement. This was cited as a separate FEMA violation.
–IANS
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