Bribe by US firms to NHAI: Govt orders probe

The Centre on Wednesday ordered probe into the allegedly kickbacks paid by CDM Smith, the Boston-based consultancy firm, to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials between 2011 and 2015 to bag contracts in road projects.

"It is reported in the media that CDM Smith Inc, USA have allegedly admitted having paid bribe to NHAI officials between 2011 and 2015. However, in 2015, they were debarred for a period of 3 months from participating / engagement in future bidding of NHAI projects because of deficiency in services in one of the projects, Dholpur - Morena Section of NH-3. Presently, M/s CDM Smith have no ongoing assignment with the NHAI. In view the seriousness of the charges, NHAI have initiated an internal investigation into alleged payment of bribe money to its officials, said a statement released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.  

According to an official, though CDM Smith was actively involved in road sector, the firm has been blacklisted by NHAI in 2015.

The company reportedly admitted to the justice department of the United States that its officials paid bribe of $1.18 million (approximately Rs 6.7 crore) to NHAI officials between 2011 and 2015 to obtain works for highway construction supervision and design contracts and a water project contract in Goa.

The reports mentioned that the company's division for India operations and CDM India paid bribes to receive contracts from NHAI. The bribes were normally 2-4% of the contract price and paid through fraudulent subcontractors, who provided no actual services and understood that payments were meant to solely benefit the officials.