The money trail that funded Robert Vadra-owned companies’ purchase of nearly 800 hectares of land in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district leads back to real estate major DLF and its largesse to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law.

And cashing in on the zooming prices, these companies have already sold off at least four plots in the district. Anticipating large profits, the Congress government facilitated a slew of industries to set up shop in the region; companies with meagre paid-up share capital and large loans purchased 20-odd plots of land in Bikaner, most of them in the Kolayat tehsil, between 2009 and 2011.

While many of these deals appear to be funded by the Rs5-crore loan and the Rs50-cr “advance” from DLF, a maze of internal loans between various Vadra-run companies is also visible from their balance sheets released earlier by India Against Corruption.

For example, Real Earth Estates Pvt Ltd bought at least two plots during this period, worth a little over Rs10 lakh. This company had an issued share capital of Rs10 lakh as of March 31, 2010 and also liabilities, including a Rs5-crore loan from DLF and a Rs2-crore loan from Skylight Hospitality. It also had loans from other Vadra-run firms, Blue Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd and Artex.

Skylight Hospitality itself bought two plots for a little over Rs1.18 crore. Its own issued share capital was Rs5 lakh until March 31, 2011. But Skylight Hospitality also had the “advance” of Rs50 crore from DLF in lieu of another plot of land as well as loans from others including Artex. It also handed out loans to Skylight Realty and Blue Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd, Vadra firms that also purchased land in Bikaner. Blue Breeze’s issued share capital on March 31, 2010 was Rs5 lakh.

North India IT Parks Pvt Ltd bought at least seven plots for a little over Rs1.03 crore. Its own issued share capital as on March 31, 2009 was Rs25 lakh. The company received loans from Skylight Hospitality, which as mentioned earlier had the Rs50-crore DLF advance.

Vadra’s firms sold at least four plots purchased in Bikaner since 2009. These include three plots purchased by Blue Breeze Trading Pvt Ltd in Gajner village of Kolayat Tehsil in Bikaner on June 4, 2009.

The directors of Blue Breeze, an obscure air charter services provider whose source of income has remained unclear, are Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen.

One plot measuring 14.95 hectares, purchased for Rs11,82,150 or a little over Rs 79,000 a hectare, was sold last year to Fonroche Raajhans Energy Pvt Ltd. A solar plant is now under construction on this plot. While directors of Fonroche Raajhans (a JV between the PR group and French firm Fonroche) were unwilling to spell out how much they purchased the land for, sources in Bikaner said recent registrations of deals in the area have touched as much as Rs20 lakh per hectare.

Another plot measuring 7.95 hectares for Rs6,28,636, at the same price of Rs79,000 a hectare was sold to VCB Trading Pvt Ltd. A third plot purchased for Rs13,16,314 (16.04 hectares, or a little over Rs82,000 per hectare) on June 11, 2009 was also sold to VCB Trading. Land records in the tehsil office show the mutation of the title. VCB Trading is run by a Jaipur family involved in manufacturing plastics, among other things.

The title to a 30-hectare plot purchased by Vadra’s North India IT Parks Pvt Ltd in Gajner for Rs50 lakh (Rs1,67,000) on August 27, 2009, is now held by BS Trade Invest Pvt Ltd, based in New Delhi. The directors of BS Trade Invest Pvt Ltd are Sangeeta Bothra of Rohini, New Delhi, and Kulvansh Singh of Jaipur.