In the mid-70s, when Mumbai wanted to buy 700 bus chassis and machine shop equipment for one of the biggest expansions of its public transport until then, authorities were forced to issue tender forms to Sanjay Gandhi`s Maruti company.

Though the Gurgaon-based Maruti did not manufacture buses, in the days of internal emergency, BEST authorities issued the tender forms to it without any objection, according to a cable sent from the US consulate in Mumbai and now made public by Wikileaks.

The cable sent on August 10, 1976, by the consulate said: "Maruti Heavy Vehicles Ltd, New Delhi, a firm in which Prime Minister (Indira) Gandhi`s son Sanjay holds interest, has also been supplied with tender forms `under instruction`. Maruti is neither bus-chassis producer, nor is known to represent any major foreign vehicle manufacturer. Best source was unable to identify reasons for Maruti`s interest in the bid."

The consulate noted that in another tender in New Delhi, Maruti also wanted to supply international harvester truck trailers, which too it did not produce. Many of the US cables-dispatched between 1973 and 1976-show the reckless expansion and business ambitions of Sanjay Gandhi and his Maruti that also sought to represent several US firms, including aircraft makers in India.

The 700 bus chassis purchase was to be funded by the World Bank, and some 30 tender forms were sold to prospective suppliers from India and abroad. Of these, the foreign companies included Volvo, British Leyland, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Ford. The Indian firms included Tata, Ashok-Leyland and Premier Motors, besides the Ordnance Factory at Jabalpur, which used to make military trucks.

By the time Maruti was issued tender forms, the entire project had already com under public scrutiny with the media, led by TOI, raising concerns that the World Bank`s lending terms were stiff, the cable shows.