Adani Group 'fleecing' pockets of common citizens, says Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Adani Group of fleecing Rs 12,000 crore from the pockets of common citizens by jacking up electricity tariff after over-invoicing coal imported from Indonesia.

He alleged that the real reason for the need for the Congress-ruled Karnataka to provide subsidy on power and the promise by his party in Madhya Pradesh is Adani, who has taken this money "directly" from people's pocket. Adani Group has denied the allegations.

Rahul referred to a recent report in Financial Times and asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “silent” on the issue. He said the Prime Minister is not “coming clean, starting an investigation, and defending his credibility”.

Addressing a press conference here, Rahul said, “Adani buys coal in Indonesia and by the time coal arrives in India, its prices doubles and he has taken approximately Rs 12,000 crore from the pockets of the poorest people in India. Our electricity prices are going up.”

With this, he alleged, the money looted by Adani Group has touched Rs 32,000 crore and it will rise in the coming days when more information comes out.

“We are giving electricity subsidies in Karnataka, and going to do so in Madhya Pradesh and while we are giving electricity subsidies, 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. So, the question is why is there no action being taken on this gentleman?” he said.

To a question whether he had spoken to Sharad Pawar about his closeness to Gautam Adani, Rahul said the NCP chief is not the Prime Minister of India and he is "not protecting" the industrialist.

“Modi is (protecting Adani) and that is why, I ask Modi this question and not Sharad Pawar. If Sharad Pawar was sitting as the Prime Minister of India, and if he was protecting Adani, then I would be asking Sharad Pawar that question,” he said.

He said the news report by the Financial Times is a “huge story”, which can bring down any government. He said it is a story of “direct theft by a man, who has been protected again, and again, and again by the Prime Minister” and it is “surprising” that not a single Indian media outlet is interested in picking up the story.

On Congress' strategy to take up the issue further and whether it would stand firm on its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe, he said the SEBI has been saying that it is not getting documents but the newspaper has got it. It is clear that Adani is getting protection from the highest level of government, which is the Prime Minister, he alleged.

To a query on whether Congress-ruled state governments will initiate a probe against Adani as they are giving subsidies on power, Rahul said it is an "interesting idea", which they will explore.