New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) The Opposition in its complaint to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the Adani Group on Wednesday claimed that the group has exercised “improper influence to obtain concessions and contracts from governments and regulated entities which they are unqualified for”.
“The Dubai-based Seclink Technology Corporation emerged as the highest bidder with a bid of Rs 7,200 crore in November 2018 tender to redevelop Mumbai’s Dharavi area. That tender was cancelled in November 2020 because of delays in the transfer of Railway land. A fresh tender with new conditions was issued in October 2022 which the Adani Group won with a bid of Rs 5,069, lower than the original winning bid by Rs 2,131 crore. The Adani Group has no known experience in urban redevelopment,” the Opposition said in its letter to the ED.
The Opposition asserted that several “crucial pieces of evidence have been made available against the group in the public domain over the last three months but the ED, which claims to pursue such cases with vigour and fairness, has yet to launch even a preliminary enquiry into these very serious charges”.
The letter further reads: “The Adani Group companies are accused of having established a network of offshore shell companies and offshore funds controlled by parties related to the Adani Group for the purposes of (1) artificially inflating stock valuations and (2) to give a distorted picture with regard to the group companies’ financial health.”
“Data available in the public domain actively lists 38 Mauritius shell entities controlled by the Adani group through Vinod Adani or close associates; as wel as other entities in Cyprus, the UAE, Singapore, and several Caribbean Islands.The purpose of these entities was to ’round trip’ money into the Adani companies for the aforementioned reasons,” it added.
Referring to the seizure of around 3000 kg of drugs, discovered in September 2021 in a shipment at Adani-run Mundra Port in Gujarat, the Opposition claimed: “… While arrests have been made (in the case,) there has been absolutely no investigation into the security lapses at the port which allowed such a serious crime to take occur.”
–IANS
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