Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a probe into reports that the Adani group imported billions of dollars of coal at prices above the market rate.
Quoting a report which had appeared in British daily Financial Times, Rahul accused the Adani group of fleecing people to the tune of Rs 12,000 crore allegedly by making them pay more for electricity rates through over-invoicing of coal imports.
The Adani group has denied any wrongdoing.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, he said the Adani group ‘buys coal in Indonesia and by the time the coal arrives in India, its prices doubles and he has taken approximately Rs 12,000 crores from the pockets of the poorest people in India… Adani is over-invoicing coal and stealing directly from the people of India, and I don’t understand why the Prime Minister doesn’t comment on this. This cannot happen without the protection of the Prime Minister of India. It is impossible. So, the question is why is there no action being taken on this gentleman?’
He asked the Prime Minister to come clean on the issue. ‘Come clean, start the investigation, defend your credibility,’ he said. Asked whether the Congress would initiate a probe if voted to power, he said, ‘Surely, we would order an investigation when we come to power.’
He said such a story would have brought down any government in the world but no action was being taken in India.
Asked whether Congress-ruled states, which are paying subsidies to the poor in lieu of high electricity rates, would initiate a probe into this, Gandhi said, ‘We will look into it.’
On whether he has questioned NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who met Adani recently, Rahul shot back: ‘Sharad Pawar is not the Prime Minister of India.’
‘Sharad Pawar is not protecting Mr Adani, Mr Modi is and that is why, I ask Mr Modi this question…’ he said.
