Enforcement Directorate (ED) is examining a financial arrangement under which former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s party, Trinamool Congress (TMC), allegedly transferred more than ₹160 crore to a relatively little-known aviation company, which subsequently acquired a business jet and a VIP helicopter that were leased back to the party.
According to ED’s investigation, Kolkata-based Carewell Aviation India Pvt Ltd did not initially have sufficient funds to purchase the aircraft. ED suspects that the party provided the company with an interest-free security deposit of ₹88.5 crore, which was then used to facilitate the purchases, reports The Times of India.
The money was allegedly moved onward by Carewell Aviation to its offshore-linked entity, Carewell Flyjet IFSC Pvt Ltd, based in Gujarat’s GIFT City. Investigators are also examining another transfer of more than ₹16 crore from the Cayman Islands in connection with the transactions.
The aircraft involved are an Embraer Legacy 600 business jet and an Agusta 109 Grand VIP helicopter. The jet was acquired in June 2023, while the helicopter was purchased in April 2025. The purchases followed the signing of charter arrangements with the TMC and the payment of the security deposit, according to the investigation.
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Under the agreements, the party was required to pay about ₹186.9 crore, excluding GST, for use of the jet for 72 months and the helicopter for 56 months. The stipulated monthly charges were ₹90 lakh for the aircraft and ₹60 lakh for the helicopter.
ED has questioned why TMC paid such a substantial interest-free deposit when it was already committed to paying rental charges for the aircraft. The agency is also examining the commercial terms under which the party was charged for flying the aircraft.
Investigators found that Carewell charged TMC ₹16.5 lakh per flying hour for the Embraer, while other customers were reportedly billed around ₹7.6 lakh per hour. The probe has also brought another charter arrangement under scrutiny: TMC reportedly paid about ₹9.1 crore for only 11-12 flying hours on a Falcon 2000 operated by Windborne Aviation, amounting to roughly ₹75 lakh per hour.
ED’s investigation indicates that more than ₹160 crore moved from TMC accounts to Carewell Aviation and related entities between July 2021 and June 2026 under the description of charter-service payments.
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The investigating agency suspects that the overall arrangement may not have been a conventional commercial transaction. Its investigators are examining whether party funds were effectively used to acquire aviation assets that were subsequently made available to the same party on a rental basis.
Another transaction that has attracted the agency’s attention occurred after TMC’s defeat in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The party reportedly paid three months’ rent in advance, covering the period until September, which the ED considers unusual.
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Carewell Aviation was incorporated in September 2021, shortly after the TMC returned to power in West Bengal for a third consecutive term. Its directors are identified as Pawan Jaju and Ramesh Jaju.
