The Income Tax Department is conducting raids on multiple premises of Hero Motocorp as part of a tax evasion investigation against the country's largest two-wheeler automobile manufacturer, officials said Wednesday morning.
Offices and residential premises of the promoters including chairman and CEO of the group Pawan Munjal in Gurugram, Haryana, Delhi and few other locations are being covered under the raid, they said.
A team of officials of the department are looking at financial documents and other business transactions of the company and its promoters, they said. A response from the company is awaited.
According to sources, the team is in the process of seizing few documents. They are scanning the ledger accounts and going through various transactions of the last three to four years. It will also record the statement of those present at the place where they are conducting the searches.
Hero MotoCorp on Wednesday said the visit of Income Tax officials to its office premises was for "a routine inquiry, which is not uncommon before the end of the financial year".
Officials from the Income Tax department visited two of the company's offices in Delhi and Gurugram and the residence of its Chairman and CEO Pawan Munjal on Wednesday.
In a statement, the company said: "We have been informed that this is a routine inquiry, which is not uncommon before the end of the financial year. We reassure all our stakeholders that it continues to be business as usual."
"We at Hero MotoCorp are an ethical and law-abiding corporate, and maintain the highest standards of impeccable corporate governance. In keeping with this philosophy, we are extending our full cooperation to the authorities."
Hero MotoCorp became the world's largest two-wheeler manufacturer in 2001, in terms of unit volume sales in a calendar year, and has maintained the title for the past 20 consecutive years.
Till date, it has sold over 100 million units across domestic and international markets.
Led by Pawan Munjal, the company has presence across 40 countries spanning Asia, Africa, and South and Central America.
The company continues to have a leading position in the domestic two-wheeler segment.
On Wednesday, the company's stock on the BSE, fell to Rs 2,395.40, down Rs 25.90 or 1.07 per cent from its previous close.