The world’s third richest man, Gautam Adani, told India TV in an exclusive interview that criticisms of his wealth fueled by his close ties to Prime Minister Narendra Modi are being debunked as he works with a number of government-ruled states. opposition. “We want to make maximum investment in every state… Adani Group is really happy to work in 22 states today, and not all these states are run by BJP… I can say that we have no problem with Us working in left ruled Kerala too, Mamata Didi West Bengal, Naveen Patnaik ji Odisha, Jaganmohan Reddy State, even KCR State.
Mr. Adani appeared on Aap Ki Adalat, hosted by Rajat Sharma. The 60-year-old said, “I want to tell you that you can never get personal help from Modi ji. You can talk to him about policies of national interest, but when a policy is made it is for everyone, not just for the Adani Group,” he added.
Adani also said there was a misperception that his multibillion-dollar group was heavily in debt, leaving banks and ordinary people’s savings vulnerable. “Over the past seven to eight years, our income has increased by 24%, while our loans have increased by 11%,” she said, adding, “Our assets are four times our loans.”
Mr Adani explained on the 90 Minutes program that he believed opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s repeated accusations of crony capitalism against him were “part of the business of politics”. He cited the example of Rajasthan, which is governed by Gandhi’s Congress party.
“Investments are our regular schedule. I had gone to the Rajasthan Investor Summit at the invitation of Prime Minister Ashok Gehlot. Later, Rahul (Gandhi) ji also praised our investment in Rajasthan. I know Rahul’s policies are not anti-development,” he added, referring to his Rs 68,000 crore investment in the desert state.
Adani said critics who say his relationship with Prime Minister Modi has been a boon overlook the fact that his success began when Congress ran the country.
“I’ve had three big chances in my life. Firstly, in 1985, during the reign of Rajiv Gandhi, when the Exim policy enabled our company to become a global trading house. Secondly, in 1991, when PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh opened up the economy and we went into public-private partnership mode,” he said.
“And thirdly, during Narendra Modi’s 12-year reign in Gujarat… I can proudly say it was a very positive experience.” He said he wanted to emphasize that “Gujarat is pro-investor, not Adani.”
Over the past year, Mr. Adani’s wealth has grown more than that of any other billionaire. His group is worth $200 billion and includes green energy, ports, mines, airports and major infrastructure projects. Mr. Adani said his company has never won a deal without making a bid and so there was no question that he was getting special treatment.
“We haven’t gotten a single project without a tender. Our Adani group has this philosophy of not touching any project without a tender, be it a port, an airport, roads or a power plant. There is not a single charge that we have handled.” Even Rahul Ji made no allegations of tampering with the bidding process,” he said.
When asked to divulge his formula for success, Mr. Adani kept it simple: “work work work (hard work, hard work, hard work).”
Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani group company.
