The income-tax department has dragged Cadbury India Ltd under its scanner for alleged two cases of tax evasions, Minister of State for Finance S. S Palanimanickam told Parliament.

In a written reply to Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Palanimanickam said that the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence had detected two cases of tax evasion by Cadbury India.

The two tax evasions were committed during 2009-10 to October 31 of current financial year. The two cases, which pertain to the company's Baddi, Himachal Pradesh-based plant, robbed the exchequer of an estimated of 213 crore.

For its Baddi plant, which the company had established in 2009 for producing Cadbury chocolates, Gems and Five Star, the company had sought tax breaks. But, the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence's contention is that the company demanded excise duty waiver even before the plan was fully set up and operational.

Cadbury India claimed that it was completely cooperating with the authorities, but it declined to discuss the details.

When contacted, a spokesperson for the chocolate giant said, "We are fully cooperating with the authorities on this enquiry. Since the investigation is currently underway, it will be inappropriate on our part to discuss the details at this time."

If the allegations against Cadbury are proved true, the chocolate giant will have to fork out taxes from June 2009 onwards.