AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj alleges ₹22,000-crore ‘rice scam’ plan by Delhi government

Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has accused the BJP-led Delhi government of planning a ₹22,000-crore scam involving the supply of subsidised rice over three years.

In a post on X, Bharadwaj alleged that a corporation based in Assam, along with the Delhi government, had sent a “formal request” to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) seeking heavily subsidised rice for distribution among poor residents of the national capital.

However, he claimed that the rice never reached beneficiaries and was instead sold to a private company in Haryana at a substantial profit.

“A corporation based in Assam and the Delhi government sent a formal request to FCI to get heavily subsidised rice from FCI. A huge quantity of 31,000 metric tons of rice per week was demanded to be distributed among the poor of Delhi,” Bharadwaj said in his X post.

“This subsidised rice never reached even a single poor person. All the rice was sold to a private company in Haryana at heavy profits,” he alleged.

‘₹143 crore scam every week’

Bharadwaj claimed that the alleged arrangement could have resulted in a scam worth ₹143 crore every week and continued for three years.

“This was a planned scam of ₹22,000 crore in three years,” he alleged.

The AAP leader also shared a video in which he elaborated on his allegations against the Delhi government and the Assam-based corporation.

According to Bharadwaj, Delhi Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s department had written to the FCI seeking 31,000 metric tonnes of rice every week to be supplied to the Assam-based corporation.

He alleged that instead of distributing the subsidised rice among Delhi’s poor, the corporation sold it to a private firm in Haryana for profit.

Bharadwaj further claimed that the Assam-based corporation could have earned a commission of around ₹70 crore a week under the arrangement. If continued for three years, he alleged, the amount involved in the alleged “loot” could have reached nearly ₹11,000 crore.

He also claimed that the alleged irregularities were detected by the Central government’s vigilance department.

The allegations have been made by Bharadwaj and have not been independently established in the information provided.