MUMBAI: The selection of Virgo Specialties Pvt Ltd for a ₹ 36.83-crore contract to replace deteriorating components at the BMC’s 900-million-litres-per-day (MLD) water treatment plant at Bhandup Complex came under scrutiny at the civic standing committee on Wednesday, with questions raised about the company’s alleged links to the Mithi River desilting scam.
“The issue arose when we learnt that the company was participating in the Bhandup tender, and that a person associated with it was connected to the Mithi River desilting controversy. Firstly, the FIR was against the individual and not the company. Secondly, if the person is no longer associated with the company, it cannot be disqualified on that basis. It was on these grounds that the company was found eligible.”
Concern was expressed about the company’s association with former director and majority shareholder Jayesh Joshi, who was named in an Economic Offences Wing investigation into alleged irregularities in desilting contracts awarded by the BMC during 2021-22 and 2022-23. Joshi was arrested in May 2025, according to reports on the investigation. We referred the matter to our senior legal counsel so that the decision could not be challenged in a court later.
“Two people were arrested in the Mithi River desilting scam, one of them a director of Virgo,” he said.
