NEW DELHI, Dec 17(TOI): Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara's Reddy's son Jagan Mohan Reddy's personal wealth showing a 1,200% jump in the first six months (April-September) of this fiscal year did not go unnoticed in the Income Tax department.

An ongoing investigation revealed that an advance tax payment of Rs 84 crore by the former Kadapa MP for six months (till September) had resulted from the sale of a portion of his shares in the family-held Bharathi Cement Company Ltd. The sale earned him Rs 416 crore while he is still left with shares worth Rs 2,600 crore in the company now co-owned by a French cement giant.

The sudden cash flow in Jagan's kitty coincided with his rebellion from the Congress which his father nurtured to make it the ruling party for two successive terms in the state. Barely a year into his second term, YSR died in a copter crash in September 2009. After being refused the CM's post, Jagan resigned from Congress last month and has now launched a parallel outfit.

French conglomerate Parficim SAS now owns 51% stake in Bharathi Cement, named after Jagan's wife, while Jagan group of companies has 49%, estimated to be worth more than Rs 2,600 crore, going by the valuation by which Jagan redeemed part of his stake.

Sources said the I-T probe had revealed that Jagan's family owned at least 15 companies that included Jagathi Publications, Sandur Power Co Ltd, Saraswati Power and a few real estate firms. These companies had seen a sudden jump in their share values. Investment flows in some of these companies are suspected to be dubious and are being investigated.

Jagan's personal wealth, compared to his previous years' income, shows a huge growth. He had paid a paltry Rs 2.92 lakh tax for the entire financial year 2008-09 and Rs 6.72 crore for all of 2009-10.

Sources said I-T department is probing the role of a number of industrialists and businessmen who had benefited during YSR's regime. Some of the business groups under the scanner include Dalmia Cement Ltd, a Chennai businessman N Prasad and a host of other companies.

The revelations are likely to provide fresh fodder to the TDP-led Opposition in the state that has been running a campaign against the sudden rise in Jagan's allegedly unaccounted wealth. TDP had last year given a memorandum to the PM alleging that hundreds of crores in pay-offs had been received by YSR in his family held companies.

It had cited how the family held Jagathi Publications had received investments worth Rs 42 crore from a dozen-odd companies from Kolkata during 2007-08. The investors, it was alleged, had no legal business activity besides being of dubious nature.

Like the Bharathi Cement shares, the Jagathi shares were allegedly overpriced at Rs 350 per share when they were sold to some entities, it was alleged by the TDP.