The Congress on Friday accused the Modi government of going slow on the investigation into the alleged irregularities in the practice of invoicing on import of electrical equipment and machinery by a subsidiary of the Adani Enterprises.
Referring to a 97-page report of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, AICC spokesperson Ajay Maken said as per the findings of the agency's probe into the matter, the Adani Group allegedly utilised a network of off-shore companies to purchase electrical equipment and sell them to the Indian counterpart at a much inflated value.
“Investigating this practice is critical as the price of this equipment has a direct bearing on the price paid by the common man for electricity,” Maken said.
As per the report of the DRI, which finished its investigation into the matter in 2014, “The modus operandi followed was that for power sector imports, while the goods from various vendors are sent directly to India, the documents are routed through an intermediary entity created by them in the UAE”.
The difference, Maken said, was routed to safe havens through a series of shell companies. He further claimed that the DRI file, compiled in 2014, and whose findings were recently published by an international magazine, maps out a complex money trail from India through South Korea and Dubai, and eventually to an offshore company in Mauritius allegedly controlled by Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Shantilal Adani.
“With the change of guard, the BJP-led NDA government decided to go slow on this important matter. As a result, till today, the investigation has not reached its logical end. Moreover, Gautam Adani, chief of the Adani Group, is often seen accompanying Modiji on various foreign tours,” Maken said.
The Congress demanded that there should be an immediate reduction in the power costs by up to a factor of Rs 2 per unit wherever these companies are producing and transmitting electricity. It has also asked for a CBI probe in the matter, which would be monitored by a judge of the Supreme Court.
The party also wants the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to conduct an investigation. Maken said the Congress will file a petition before the CERC.
