SEBI winds up Growpital scheme, orders refund of investor money

The Enforcement Action

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has passed a final order against 30 noticees in the matter of the Growpital platform, finding that the online scheme ran an unregistered collective investment scheme (CIS) and dealt fraudulently in securities. The order, dated 28 September 2026 and signed by Whole Time Member Kamlesh C. Varshney (reference WTM/KV/WRO|WROAHMEDABAD/LO-INDORE|WRO-DIV-5/32735/2026-27), directs that the scheme be wound up and that investor money still outstanding be refunded with interest.

Per the order, Farm Silo Tech LLP, which operated the website www.growpital.com, together with Yotta Agro Ventures Private Limited, ZF Project 1 LLP, ZF Project 2 LLP and ZF Project 3 LLP and their directors and designated partners Rituraj Sharma, Krishnna Joshi and Gayatri Rinwa, raised ₹192.88 crore from 5,208 unique investors between 1 April 2020 and 31 January 2024. SEBI held that these eight noticees were "running a collective investment scheme and fraudulently dealt in securities".

SEBI restrained the eight lead noticees from the securities market for five years or until the refund is completed, whichever is later, and barred 22 further noticees for three years. It imposed monetary penalties running to several crore rupees and directed that the scheme's assets remain frozen pending refunds. The lead noticees contested the proceedings and challenged SEBI's jurisdiction, and had earlier appealed the interim order before the Securities Appellate Tribunal. The final order is itself appealable to the SAT.

How the Scheme Worked

According to the order, the Growpital platform offered the public a set of investment plans that promised fixed, "absolutely assured" tax-free returns said to be generated from agricultural projects. SEBI reproduced the plans on offer as on 26 January 2024: "Leafy Eleven" at an ₹11,000 unit investment paying 11% a year, "Ever Green Returns" at ₹20,000 paying 12%, "Harvest Bloom" at ₹2,00,000 paying 14% and "Blooming Seeds" at ₹25,00,000 paying 15% a year. Payouts were monthly or quarterly over a one-year tenure.

The order records that investors were on-boarded as partners in limited liability partnerships, with units allocated to them and profits assured. SEBI found, however, that all the land lease and ownership agreements were in the name of Yotta Agro Ventures or of Winsome Tea Plantations Pvt Ltd, a Yotta-owned company, so that the investors described as partners "had no legal ownership or control whatsoever" over the farmland on which agriculture was claimed to be carried out. On that basis SEBI held that all four ingredients of a collective investment scheme were present: pooling of contributions, contributions made with a view to receiving profits, management of the pooled property on behalf of investors, and investors having no day-to-day control over it.

The investigation also traced how the money moved. SEBI found that about ₹95.60 crore was transferred from Farm Silo Tech LLP to Yotta "without any underlying business", and that ₹8.53 crore of investor money was spent acquiring a company named Grobanana in Yotta's name. The order describes two further layers of recipients, which it labels "Supplier Entities" and "Revenue Entities" purely for identification, through which it found funds were routed by parties acting as conduits before reaching Yotta.

The procedural history began with a complaint emailed to SEBI on 30 June 2023. SEBI issued an ex-parte interim order on 29 January 2024 directing the lead entities to cease floating any CIS and to stop collecting fresh money, and a confirmatory order followed on 26 April 2024. The final order now concludes those proceedings.

The Law Invoked

The order is passed under sections 11(1), 11(4), 11(4A), 11B(1), 11B(2) and 11D of the SEBI Act, 1992, read with the SEBI (Procedure for Holding Inquiry and Imposing Penalties) Rules, 1995. These provisions give SEBI its powers to investigate, issue remedial directions and impose penalties in order to protect investors.

In its conclusion SEBI found the eight lead noticees in contravention of section 12(1B) and sections 12A(a), (b) and (c) of the SEBI Act, regulation 3 of the SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999, and regulations 3(a) to (d), 4(1) and 4(2)(k), (s) and (t) of the SEBI (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices relating to Securities Market) Regulations, 2003. Section 12(1B) bars operating a CIS without registration; section 12A and the PFUTP Regulations prohibit fraudulent and unfair dealing in securities; regulation 3 of the CIS Regulations requires registration before any scheme is launched. The remaining noticees were found to have aided the scheme in breach of section 12A and the PFUTP Regulations.

Penalties were imposed under section 15HA, which covers fraudulent and unfair trade practices, and section 15D, which covers carrying on a collective investment scheme without registration, with the liability of partners attributed under section 27 of the SEBI Act.

What Happens Next

Under the order, each of the eight lead noticees pays a penalty of ₹2 crore, made up of ₹1 crore under section 15HA and ₹1 crore under section 15D. The Supplier and Revenue category noticees face penalties of ₹50 lakh each, and three others ₹20 lakh each. All penalties are payable within 45 days.

On refunds, SEBI directed that the CIS be wound up and that outstanding investor money be returned with interest at 12% a year from the date of the interim order of 29 January 2024. SEBI's Recovery and Refund Department will appoint a Nodal Refund Officer, the lead noticees must file a full list of investors and assets, refunds will be made proportionately to the amount outstanding against each investor, and any unclaimed sums will go to the Investor Protection and Education Fund. Bank and demat accounts of the lead noticees remain frozen except for the purpose of making refunds.

A SEBI final order is appealable to the Securities Appellate Tribunal, and from there to the Supreme Court on a question of law. The findings are SEBI's own and remain subject to that appeal process; the lead noticees had already litigated the interim order before the SAT under Appeal No. 230 of 2024.

What It Means

The order is a reminder that a promise of "assured" or "guaranteed" tax-free returns from an unlisted platform is among the clearest warning signs of a scheme that may not be registered. Genuine market returns are never guaranteed, and legitimate pooled-investment products in India, whether mutual funds, portfolio management services, alternative investment funds or registered collective investment schemes, must be registered with SEBI.

Before committing money to any such platform, an investor can check registration free of charge on the SEBI website, which lists registered intermediaries and CIS managers, and can search for interim or final orders issued against an entity's name. Where a scheme dresses an investment up as an LLP "partnership" but leaves the investor with no control over or ownership of the underlying assets, SEBI's Growpital findings show how it may treat the arrangement as a collective investment scheme regardless of the label used.

Affected Growpital investors should also note that they do not need to pay any intermediary to claim a refund. The order routes all refunds through SEBI's Nodal Refund Officer, and the list of investors and the process will be published on the SEBI website and in national newspapers, with a window to raise a grievance if a name or amount is left out.

FAQ

What exactly did SEBI order?

SEBI passed a final order on 28 September 2026 finding that the Growpital platform ran an unregistered collective investment scheme and dealt fraudulently in securities. It barred the eight lead noticees from the market for five years, barred 22 others for three years, imposed monetary penalties, and directed that the scheme be wound up and investors refunded with 12% annual interest.

Is this order a criminal conviction?

No. A SEBI final order records the regulator's own findings after its proceedings; it is not a criminal conviction and is appealable to the Securities Appellate Tribunal. The noticees contested the proceedings, and the order remains subject to that appeal process.

How much money is involved?

Per the order, the scheme raised ₹192.88 crore from 5,208 unique investors between April 2020 and January 2024. SEBI found that about ₹95.60 crore was moved from Farm Silo Tech LLP to Yotta Agro Ventures without underlying business, and that ₹8.53 crore was used to acquire a company in Yotta's name.

How will affected investors get their money back?

The order directs SEBI's Recovery and Refund Department to appoint a Nodal Refund Officer. Refunds will be made proportionately from recovered and liquidated assets, with 12% annual interest from 29 January 2024, and investors can raise a grievance if left off the list. No fee is payable to any intermediary to claim a refund.

How can I check whether an investment platform is registered?

Use the SEBI website's public lists of registered intermediaries and collective investment scheme managers, and search SEBI's orders section for any action against the entity. A promise of assured or guaranteed returns from an unregistered platform is a strong signal to verify before investing.

Where can I read the official order?

The full 166-page final order in the matter of the Growpital platform is published on SEBI's website under its enforcement orders.

This report is based on the official SEBI final order dated 28 September 2026 in the matter of Growpital Platform, signed by Whole Time Member Kamlesh C. Varshney. The order was surfaced via SEBI's enforcement orders feed.