World Bank group imposes 20-month debarment on Ramky Enviro Engineers

The World Bank Group has announced 20-month debarment of Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd (REEL), a city-based waste management and environmental services company, in connection with a "fraudulent practice" as part of the Capacity Building for Industrial Pollution Management Project in India.

The World Bank in a statement issued on December 8 said the debarment makes REEL and its Managing Director, M Goutham Reddy, ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank group.

However, Reddy was not immediately available for comment on the subject.

It is part of a settlement agreement under which the company and its Managing Director do not contest responsibility for the underlying sanctionable practice and agree to meet specified corporate compliance conditions as a condition for release from debarment.

According to facts of the case, which are not contested, REEL and its Managing Director in 2014 failed to disclose a subcontractor when bidding for the contract on the closure and containment of a municipal solid waste dumpsite at Ukkayyapalli in Andhra Pradesh, the World Bank said.

"REEL also failed to obtain prior approval before subcontracting works under the contract and in 2017 misrepresented the existence of this subcontracting arrangement to the Bank. This conduct is a fraudulent practice under the World Bank's Procurement Guidelines," it pointed out.

The debarment of REEL and Reddy qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks (MDB) under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions that was signed on April 9, 2010, it added.

KKR, a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes owns 60 per cent in Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited, the company's website said.