Congress MP Jairam Ramesh.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Stepping up its attack on the Narendra Modi government, the Congress on Wednesday (August 14, 2024) reiterated its demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue by citing two examples to argue how the government is helping the Adani group.
Taking to social media platform, X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a Power Ministry memorandum of August 12, amending the Guidelines of Import/Export of Electricity (Cross Border), 2018, that will help an Adani group company. The company, which generates electricity from Jharkhand and was supplying power to Bangladesh, is now being permitted to sell power in India itself, Mr. Ramesh alleged.
“The non-biological PM moves with lightning speed when the interests of his favourite tempowallah are involved. Adani imports coal from Australia to generate power in Jharkhand and supply it to Bangladesh. It is the only company allowed to do so through a power purchase agreement which has been very controversial. Now the company has been permitted to sell that electricity in India itself,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
In another post, Mr. Ramesh alleged that the Gujarat government was helping Adani Ports to “secure a monopoly” on the State’s port sector.
He said the Gujarat government grants private ports a 30-year concession period on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis, after which ownership gets transferred to the government of Gujarat. Adani Ports currently has control over Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej ports on the basis of this model, the Congress leader added.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Mr. Ramesh claimed, Adani Ports requested the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) to extend this concession period by another 45 years to 75 years in total.
“This was much beyond the maximum permissible period of 50 years, but the GMB hastened to request the Gujarat Government to do so anyway. The GMB was in such a hurry that it did so without approval from its Board, resulting in the file’s return,” he alleged.
The Congress leader claimed that the GMB recommended that the Gujarat government protect its revenue interests after the passage of the 30-year concession by inviting bids from other potential operators and companies or renegotiating financial terms with Adani.
“It appears that the tempo-wallah, furious at this possibility of competition, forced a change in the GMB Board’s decision – which was revised to recommend the extension of the concession period for Adani, without inviting new bids or renegotiating the terms,” Mr. Ramesh alleged.
The Congress leader said the Chief Minister and all others then hastened to ensure that this proposal went through and received clearances from all stakeholders required. “Here are at least two serious consequences of this daylight robbery – Adani Ports will secure a monopoly on Gujarat’s port sector, harming market competition, and driving up prices for the common man. Adani Ports will see its valuation rise and borrowing costs fall. By failing to open up the process to a renegotiation or competitive bidding, the government of Gujarat will lose crores of rupees in revenues,” Mr. Ramesh claimed.
“Modi Hai toh Adani ke liye sab kuch mumkin Hai! This is why a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation is essential,” he added.
The Opposition party has been persistent in its attack on the government and the Adani group after U.S.-based short-seller Hindenburg Research made fresh allegations against market regulator SEBI chairperson Madhabi Buch.
The latest report alleged that Ms. Buch and her husband had stakes in obscure offshore funds used in the Adani money siphoning scandal. While Ms. Buch denied the allegations as baseless and asserted that their finances are an open book, the Adani Group also termed the Hindenburg report as “malicious and manipulative of select public information”.
