Kannur: Allegations of political favouritism have cropped up over the engagement of Bengaluru-based Zonta Infratech by major city civic bodies in Kerala for Waste-to-Energy projects.
Kannur Corporation Mayor T O Mohanan told Manorama News here on Sunday that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office contacted his office to sign a contract with Zonta Infratech.
As is well-known by now, it is the very firm blamed for the mess at the Brahmapuram waste dumping yard in Kochi where a fire has been raging for 11 days.
Mohanan also claimed that Zonta exists only on paper, and it tasks another company to do the work.
“This is the reason why Kannur Corporation withdrew from the contract. The corruption behind this is similar to that of SNC Lavlin and the ones orchestrating it are big frauds,” said the mayor.
Manorama News recently reported that Zonta Infratech was engaged by Kochi, Kollam, and Kannur Corporations but its waste-to-energy project was not implemented in a time-bound manner in any of these places. The contract issued by the Kozhikode Corporation also was reportedly not completed even after four years.
The company has reportedly received tenders worth Rs 400 crore to build waste treatment plants within the limits of various local self-government bodies.
Hurried selection
In May 2019, a high-level team including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the then Chief Secretary Tom Jose visited a plant in Geneva which generates power from waste. Soon after the team returned to Kerala, such a project was announced for the State. Within two months, Zonta Infratech was selected by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) after inviting tenders, to run the project in Kozhikode.
The company had furnished a certificate of previous experience citing it has done waste treatment at Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.
Zonta's MD is kin of CPM veteran
It was in 2014 that Rajkumar Chellappan Pilla, son-in-law of former LDF Convener Vaikkom Vishwan, took over as the Managing Director of the company. In 2016, his brother Raj Kishore also joined as a director.
Besides the two brothers, three others are also directors in the company. As per the registration details, the company headquartered in Bengaluru has an operational capital of Rs 17.22 lakh.
According to the details furnished with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the last annual general meeting was conducted in 2021 November. The last balance sheet was also filed 2 years ago.
The office of Zonta Group, an asset management company which operates in the field of environment conservation including waste management, is on the first floor of Reliable Phoenix Tower on Museum Road, Bengaluru.
The boards of other companies under the Zonta Group — Zonta Infratech, Zonta Bower, Edge Varsity Learning Systems and others — are also placed here. The website claims that the company was formed in 2010.