Construction company Ranjit Buildcon is now at the centre of a ₹3 crore corruption scandal, adding to its growing list of controversies. The firm — known for its numerous government projects across Ahmedabad and the state — has been accused of embezzling mineral royalties from the Geology and Mining department during a railway track construction project in Kutch.

The latest controversy came to light when Jawansinh Dabhi, a senior clerk in the Geology and Mining department, filed a complaint at the Anjar police station. Dabhi claims that the police initially refused to file the complaint against Ranjit Builcon’s representative Dipesh Sorathiya in May 2023 and tried to sweep [the issue] under the rug instead. 

According to the complaint, the scam allegedly involved forged royalty documents for about 7 lakh tonnes of sand and gravel used in the Samakhiali-Kidiyanagar railway track project.

Ranjit Buildcon is accused of using fake stamps and signatures of the Geology and Mining department officials on a no-dues certificate submitted to the Ahmedabad Railway Division in 2021.

No stranger to conflict 

This is hardly the first time Ranjit Builcon has been in the news for the wrong reasons. 

Just last month, a 135-tonne girder box and crane fell on a house in Surat’s Nana Varachha, where Metro work was being carried out. Twenty-four hours later, neither had the police filed a complaint against the contractor — Ranjit Buildcon — nor had the firm reached out to the affected family who had, luckily, been out of town when their home was accidentally demolished.  

The incident, which took place on August 22, came barely 10 days after the Gujarat High Court began hearing a writ petition seeking a stay on the Amdavad Municipal Corporation’s plans for a new flyover at Panjrapole crossroads. The civic body had recently awarded the ₹109 crore contract to Ranjit Construction, which is part of the same group. Court documents revealed that there was no actual need for a flyover in that area, or for decades’-old trees to be felled for its construction. 

The petition highlights the firm’s poor track record using two instances: A two-year-old was killed and several labourers injured during a road widening project between Jamnaba Park and Anuvrat Dwar in Surat. During Phase 2 of the Sabarmati Riverfront Project, the firm constructed an artificial sewage bridge that collected contaminated waste and obstructed the flow of river water. 

Notably, Ranjit Buildcon was also the only company willing to complete the Mumatpura flyover on Ahmedabad’s SP Ring Road, after a slab collapsed during construction, killing one. 

As the probe into Ranjit Buildcon’s alleged ₹3 crore scam unfolds, the case has drawn attention to the broader issues of contract allocation and project oversight in Gujarat’s construction sector. 

That a firm so often mired in controversy keeps winning tenders for government work raises serious questions about the company’s operations and its relationship with the Gujarat government.

The persistence of these issues, coupled with the company’s continued success in securing government contracts, also highlights the urgent need for stronger oversight and accountability in public infrastructure projects.

Ultimately, the Ranjit Buildcon saga underscores a critical challenge facing the state: balancing rapid development with ethical business practices and public interest. 

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