Congress fires more questions at PM Modi on Adani issue

The Union ministry of power and Gujarat Pollution Control Board has not taken any action against the Adani group for environmental violations, the Congress alleged on Monday (March 20).

The Opposition party also claimed the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) ignored violations of the longstanding power-purchase agreements by the Adani group under the Electricity Act. The Adani group has rejected all the allegations against it and has claimed that it has not indulged in any wrongdoing.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed a set of three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani group, as part of what the Opposition party dubs as the “Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun” series.

He has so far asked 99 questions and said these can only be answered by a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe.

“Here is HAHK(Hum Adanike Hain Kaun)-33. Our questions directly to the PM on the Adani Maha Mega Scam. With this, we have reached 99. But we won’t stop, tomorrow we will hit the century mark. These questions can only be unravelled through a JPC.
“Chuppi Todiye Pradhan Mantriji (Break your silence, Mr prime minister),” he said on Twitter.

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Ramesh claimed a CAG report tabled in the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha on September 22, 2022 found that the state government had turned a blind eye to environmental violations by the Adani Group.

“Adani Power had illegally dumped 15.42 lakh tonnes of toxic fly ash in low-lying areas between 2014-15 and 2018-19, without the approval of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). It had wrongly reported the recycling of this toxic byproduct even though it had no online monitoring system to ensure it, as required by the Union ministry of power,” Ramesh alleged.

He pointed out that the CAG reported that “GPCB did not take any action against APL for dumping the fly ash as in the low-lying areas without its approval and for incorrect reporting of 100 per cent utilisation of fly ash”.

“Is your concern for your favourite group’s profits so much greater than for the Gujarati villagers and fishermen, whose health and livelihoods have been damaged by rampant fly-ash pollution?” Ramesh asked.

Also read: Jairam Ramesh writes to RBI, SEBI to probe allegations against Adani Group

Is Adani group defaulting on power supply to Haryana?

The Congress leader also alleged that Adani Power has been defaulting on its power supply obligations to Haryana since December 2020.

“It now transpires that not only is Haryana not receiving the electricity it is due from Adani Power in Mundra, but electricity from Haryana has been illegally diverted to Mundra for onward supply to consumers in Gujarat,” he alleged.

The All India Power Engineers Federation has shown that 1,790.25 million units of electricity power flowed in the reverse direction on the Mundra-Mohindergarh high-voltage direct current line between April and December 2022, he claimed.

“Is it true that Haryana paid for the electricity supplied to Gujarat?” the Congress leader asked.

CAG report findings on coal import tenders

He also claimed that a July 9, 2018 report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India found that the Adani Group had been the major beneficiary of “flawed” coal import tenders issued by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) between July 2012 and February 2016.

“Your personal influence over the then AIADMK-run state government is no secret. Did you play any role in helping your cronies make yet another illicit gain, this time at the expense of Tamil Nadu taxpayers?” asked Ramesh.

The Congress has been raising the Adani issue and demanding a JPC after the Hindenburg report levelled several allegations against the business group.