Adani ‘biggest NPA trapeze artiste’, says Subramanian Swamy; group clarifies position

According to Bloomberg data, as of September 2017, Adani Power had a total debt of Rs 47,609.43 crore, Adani Transmission Rs 8,356.07 crore, Adani Ent Rs 22,424.44 crore and Adani Ports Rs 20.791.15 crore. The ports tycoon and his family’s net worth was believed to be $11 billion in 2017 — making him the 10th richest man in India, according to Forbes.

The biggest NPA trapeze artiste in PSUs is Gautam Adani. It is time he is made accountable or a PIL is inevitable

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) March 6, 2018

Swamy’s remarks come at a time when the government is facing criticism over the alleged PNB fraud case. The Opposition, mainly Congress, has continued its attack against the government, raising questions over “slipping out” of diamond jeweller Nirav Modi. The Opposition also raised the issue in the Parliament on Tuesday after which the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day. The Congress, which protested outside Parliament ahead of the session, is demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi address the Houses on the steps being taken by the government to bring the scam accused back to India.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar accused Congress of ruining the peace of the Parliament. “If the House runs peacefully then everyone can raise their issues. cannot understand why the Congress party is irritated. The government is ready for a discussion… I can’t understand why Congress is opposing it,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Responding to Swamy’s allegations, the Adani Group said, “it has a history of implementing world-scale infrastructure projects within a short time and the lowest cost quartile. Capital intensive projects necessarily require debt capital.”

“Our operating performance is such that the Transmission and Port businesses have been rated ‘investment grade’ by international credit rating agencies. Also, almost all of our companies enjoy a high credit rating from domestic rating agencies. This is a testimony to the extremely high discipline followed by the Group, in meeting with its debt obligations-diligently and on an on-going basis.

Given our rating track record, different sources of debt are available to the Group, ranging from international bonds, ECB loans, domestic bonds, loans from private sector as well as public sector banks in India,” said the official release of the group.