Aap Ki Adalat: India’s richest industrialist Gautam Adani has for the first time responded comprehensively to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations that the Modi government is favoring the Adani group in matters relating to bank loans and infrastructure projects.
In a no-holds-barred interview on Rajat Sharma’s iconic show, Aap Ki Adalat, airing tonight at 10 pm on India TV, Adani said: “Rahul ji is a respected leader (sammaniya neta). He also wants progress. He may be commenting politically, but I don’t take it more than ‘political rhetoric’.
Adani told Rajat Sharma in a lighter vein, “By repeatedly asking about Rahul ji, you will start a fight between me and him and maybe tomorrow he will give a new statement.” I consider Rahul ji as a ‘respectable leader’. He has to run his own political party. They have their own ideological battle, where allegations and counter-allegations take place. I am a simple industrialist (sammaniya industrialist). I am doing my work. He does his politics in his own way.
(Hindi transcript: Rahul Ji ki baat karke waapas aap mere ko Rahulji se jhagda karwa dengey, aur kal who ek aur statement de dengey. Rahul Ji ek sammaniya neta hain. Unkpo bhi political party chalani hai. Unki ideology ki ladai hoti hai, usme aarop, pratyarop hota hai. Main toh ek samanya udyogpati hoon.
Adani said: “Before 2014, people would hardly have heard of Adani, especially in North India. We belong to Gujarat, where people knew us. During and after the 2014 elections, Rahul ji repeatedly attacked us. The result was that the people here came to know who Adani is and that is why I am sitting here (in the dock of your court).
Asked about the help he received from Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat, Gautam Adani replied: “I got three big breaks in my life. First, in 1985 during Rajiv Gandhi’s regime, when the Exim Policy allowed our company to become a global trading house; Second, in 1991, when P.V. Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh opened up the economy, and we entered public-private partnership mode, and third, during the 12-year-long rule of Narendra Modi in Gujarat… I can proudly say that this It was a great experience. But I want to tell you that you can never get any personal help from Modi ji. You can talk to them about policies in national interest, but when a policy is made, it is for everyone, not just for the Adani group.
Coming to specifics, Adani responded to the allegations in detail regarding bank loans, projects, seizure of drugs at Mundra airport and farm laws.
On Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that Adani group got most of the port, airport and other infrastructure projects, Gautam Adani replied: “We didn’t get a single project without bidding. It is the philosophy of our Adani Group that no project should be touched without bidding, be it port, airport, roads or powerhouse. There is not a single allegation that we ‘managed’ the bidding. Even Rahul ji has not made any allegation of rigging in the bidding process.
On Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that the Adani group got bank loans worth Rs 2 lakh crore from money deposited by people in banks, Adani replied: “Any infra project requires equity and bank loans which Normally 40:60 in nature. Borrowers are profiled by ratings. Adani Group is the only business group in India whose companies have ratings at par with sovereign ratings of India. Independent rating agencies complete We do financial analysis and based on that banks give loans. Our group is so disciplined that in our 25 years history we have never delayed a single day in payment. After 2013, we used to take 80% loan from Indian banks , and then the interest rate went up to 35%. We went to the international market with global ratings. As you know global markets don’t lend on anyone’s say to India. about asking to give) are baseless. Such allegations are made due to political compulsions, but this It is a matter between debtors and creditors. There has been no difficulty on this score…. In the last 7-8 years, our debt grew by 11% while our income grew by 24%. It is because of our profitability that our rating has improved. Today our profitability is much higher than our borrowings.
When asked by Rajat Sharma, “If Adani’s balloon bursts, many banks may sink”, Gautam Adani replied: “It may be wishful thinking of some critics, but I can tell you that Adani Group’s assets Three to four times more than our borrowings. Nobody’s money is unsafe.”
Rajat Sharma asked: “What if the balloon bursts?”, Adani replied: “So long as India progresses, this balloon will move forward”. (Hindi script: India jab tak aagey badhta rahega, yeh gubbara aagey chalta rahega)
Adani responds to Rahul Gandhi’s allegation that the Center is not taking action despite seizure of drugs worth Rs 20,000 crore at Mundra port in 2021, drugs worth Rs 5,000 crore in May 2022 and drugs worth Rs 375 crore in July, 2022 Given: The job of a port operator is limited to cargo operations. We do not have policing, inspection or arrest powers. This is done by various agencies of the government. They are only trying to mislead people. It is not that drugs were smuggled through our port only. They also come through airports. After drug recovery at our port, all investigations by government agencies are done 360 degree. People are being questioned. The seizure papers are completed only after enquiry. I don’t think any special consideration was given to the Adani group.
On the slogan of the Congress Party, ‘Aam Aadmi Byala, Adani Malmaal’, Gautam Adani replied: “Look, one can try to draw a political narrative, after all, tell us, where is the allegation? One is a political statement, and the other is actually a real allegation. Let the public decide what is the truth.
On Rs 68,000 crore investment by Adani Group in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, Gautam Adani replied: “Investment is our normal programme. I went to Rajasthan Investors Summit on the invitation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Later, Rahul ji also praised our investment in Rajasthan. I know that Rahul’s policies are not anti-development. We want to invest more and more in every state….Adani Group is really happy that today it is working in 22 states, and all these states are not BJP ruled…I can say with clarity that We do not have any problem with any state government. We are working in Left ruled Kerala, Mamta didi’s West Bengal, Naveen Patnaik ji’s Odisha, Jaganmohan Reddy’s state, even in KCR’s state.
When asked by Rajat Sharma why the opposition parties are accusing Modi of being Adani’s ‘chowkidar’, Gautam Adani replied: “There are very few people who have difficulty with Modi ji, or ideological pushback. Reasons say such things. All I can say from my experience is that most people like Modi ji and Adani’s development model. They don’t see any problem.”
Gautam Adani termed the repeal of agricultural laws as “unfortunate”. “Our group has very limited exposure to agriculture. We had built some godowns for the Food Corporation of India to store wheat. We did not buy wheat from those godowns. We only gave infrastructure. …Actually as a citizen, I think the farm laws were good, and when they were given a political tone they had to be repealed. In India, 40-50% people are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. Today India has the capacity to supply food grains to the whole world. But the bigger problem is the lack of infrastructure, including transportation by rail, cold storage, lack of storage… It is not a question of Adani group’s profit. ,
The third richest man in the world was very optimistic about the future of India. Adani said, ‘India is progressing rapidly. Since independence it took 58 years for India to achieve $1 trillion economy, another 12 years to achieve $2 trillion economy, five years to achieve $3 trillion economy today, and India is now is in a position where its economy can touch $30 trillion by 2050. Naturally, per capita income will increase and job opportunities will increase. No one can stop India in the coming years.