Raids at Chettinad Group premises; Rs 7 crore unaccounted cash recovered

Income Tax sleuths on Wednesday conducted searches in over 60 premises owned by Chennai-based business conglomerate Chettinad Group, including in Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, for suspected tax evasion.

By the end of the day, the Income Tax department said it had found unaccounted cash of over Rs 7 crore from a “key person” while maintaining that the searches were still on.

“IT Department is conducting search operations on a prominent business group of Chennai having varied business activities. About 60 premises are covered across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra. More than Rs 7crore of unaccounted cash found from (a) key person so far. Search is still in progress,” the I-T department said.

The searches at premises owned by Chettinad Group, which has interests from cement to health care to transportation, began on Wednesday morning, sources in the I-T department said. “The searches may go on till Thursday or beyond,” a source said, adding that the searches are for suspected tax evasion.

In Chennai, searches were conducted at the Chettinad Group’s headquarters overlooking the iconic Gemini Flyover on the arterial Anna Salai and the Chettinad Palace, which had been featured in several Tamil films, among other premises owned by the business conglomerate.

The over 100-year-old Chettinad Group is based out of Chennai and the firm has offices across the country. The Chettinad Group began its journey in 1912 by its founder Dr Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar and was led by Dr Raja Sir Muthiah Chettiar, who handed over the reins to Dr M A M Ramaswamy. The group is now helmed by M A M R Muthiah, the adopted son of M A M Ramaswamy.

From cement to healthcare to transportation to coal terminal, the Chettinad Group is one of the oldest home-grown business conglomerates in Tamil Nadu.