Congress calls government investigation into Adani-run airports an ‘eyewash’

The Congress on Saturday said that a government investigation into two airports run by the Adani Group was merely an eyewash.

On Friday, the conglomerate’s flagship company Adani Enterprises told the Bombay Stock Exchange that the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs was investigating the accounts of the two airports. It said that the ministry sought information about them for the period from financial years 2017-’18 to 2021-’22.

The Adani Group took over the two airports in July 2021. The Navi Mumbai airport is expected to become operational by July 2024.

On Saturday, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh that only a Joint Parliamentary Committee could reveal the truth of alleged favouritism by the Centre to the conglomerate. “This sham investigation will end up where previous Modi-era probes into the Adani group have gone – nowhere,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Congress claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government was “desperately trying to save face” by showing that it was taking action against the Adani Group.

“When will the government investigate how the Adani group was awarded 6 out of 6 airports over the objections of the NITI Aayog and the Department of Economic Affairs?” Ramesh asked.

On January 24, United States-based investment Hindenburg Research in a report alleged that the Adani Group was pulling off the “largest con in corporate history”. Hindenburg claimed that the conglomerate has been involved in accounting fraud, improper use of tax havens, and money laundering.

The Adani Group had rejected these allegations but the report still pummeled the stocks of the conglomerate’s listed companies.

In May, an expert panel constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee investigations into the Adani Group said that prima facie it was not possible to conclude whether there had been any regulatory failure in the case.