'Textbook case of crony capitalism', potential threat to national security: Cong

The Congress on Saturday cited a media report on the Adani Groups growing share in port operations to allege that this is not only a textbook case of crony capitalism but a potential threat to national securityCongress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that in the partys Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun series of 100 questions it had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi three pointed questions on how Adani had become Indias largest ports operator without engaging in any competitive bidding and with the help of government raids on owners of private ports who miraculously decided to sell their assets thereafter to AdaniAn Indian Express report today highlights growing concerns at the highest level of government about the strategic implications of this Modimade Monopoly 3M he saidA senior shipping ministry official has said that high market concentration brings a real risk of abuse of this dominance Ramesh pointed out citing the reportA senior official from one of the economic ministries has expressed concerns that market concentration by a firm facing serious and credible allegations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation is an issue in a strategic sector like ports he saidThe opposition party has been questioning the financial dealings of billionaire Gautam Adanis group after the USbased Hindenburg Research alleged irregularities and charged it with stock price manipulationThe Adani Group has denied all the allegations made in the Hindenburg report and claimed there had been no wrongdoing on its partRamesh also pointed out that a former Competition Commission of India chairperson has stated that the creeping acquisition of capacity by one player while the others fall or languish is a growing concernAdani has gone from 1037 to 2437 of total ports traffic in the past decade and today controls a huge 5737 of cargo volumes outside of Indias governmentowned major ports the Congress leader saidBy brazenly handing control of a critical strategic sector to his close friend one who faces serious accusations of criminality the PM has made himself and India a global laughing stock he allegedA friend who has shady connections with Chinese and Emirati individuals who are not only involved in overinvoicing and stock manipulation but also have been given exclusive rights to build ports for Adani he saidRamesh asserted that this is not only a textbook case of crony capitalism but a potential threat to national securitySince PM Modi and his pet agencies cant be expected to investigate this we reiterate our call for a JPC to look into all aspects of the Adani MegaScam he saidAccording to the media report cited by Ramesh from just one big port Mundra in 2001 the Adani Group today has grown to be the largest private operator with as many as 14 ports and terminals handling a quarter of all cargo passing through the countrys portsIn another post Ramesh said the Union Coal Ministry insists domestic production and stocks of coal are adequate but the Union Power Ministry has directed utilities to import coalThe beneficiary is none other than the PMs mostfavoured business group he said in an apparent reference to the Adani GroupHe also tagged a media report which said India has asked utilities to import six per cent of their coal until MarchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever