The Income Tax Department has raided the Gurugram office and residence of Pawan Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director of Hero MotoCorp. The raids have been going on since morning. A source told CNBC-TV18, “Currently, searches are underway at around 25 premises of Hero MotoCorp, including offices and residences of senior management in Delhi, Gurgaon and other parts of North India.”
The searches, which began at 7 am today, also include the offices and residences of Hero MotoCorp Chairman and MD Pawan Munjal. The IT department also conducted searches on March 22 at 24 locations in Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru linked to the Hiranandani Group, a Mumbai-based real estate firm. “The group has already clarified that the offshore trust/assets held by the family abroad are solely. Actual and in conformity with all laws. Apart from this, all queries of the officials are being fully addressed and we assure our full cooperation in this matter,” a spokesperson of Hiranandani Group told CNBC TV18.
In October 2021, the names of Hiranandani Group founder Niranjan Hiranandani and key members of his family had surfaced in Pandora’s papers, which said they were beneficiaries of a trust with assets of over $60 million.
Sources told PTI that the raids are part of a probe into tax evasion and a team of department officials is probing the financial documents and other business transactions of the company and promoters.
At 1:05 pm, Hero MotoCorp was trading lower by Rs 45.45 or 1.88 per cent at Rs 2,378.20 on the BSE.
Hero MotoCorp’s share price fell 4 per cent in intraday after this news broke. The stock touched a 52-week high of Rs 3,141.55 and a 52-week low of Rs 2,148.00 on March 22, 2021 and March 8, 2022 respectively. It is trading 24.11 percent below its 52-week high and 11 percent above its 52-week low.
Led by Pawan Munjal, the company has units spread across 40 countries in Asia, Africa and South and Central America.
Hero MotoCorp became the world’s largest two wheeler manufacturer in 2001 in terms of unit volume sales in a year. It has a share of over 50 per cent in the domestic motorcycle market and has sold over 100 million units in the domestic and international markets. In February, the company reported a significant 29 per cent decline in overall wholesale sales, according to its statement.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And Ukraine-Russia War Live Updates Here.