New Delhi: Countering Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of crony capitalism Saturday, Gautam Adani, the Chairperson of Adani Group, said that “policy is for everyone” and that Modi does not favour anyone “personally”.
In an interview to India TV, Adani, spoke about Rahul Gandhi, Modi, his family and the three big breaks of his life.
The world’s third-richest industrialist (according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index), Adani, for the first time, responded in detail to Rahul’s comment that Adani Group has benefited greatly under the Modi regime, getting a large number of ports, airports, and other infra projects. “Rahul is a respected politician of the Congress party. He, too, wants the country to develop and progress. The statements he makes are merely political and I never take them any other way,” said Adani. “We have gotten every single project after bidding for it. We have never entered into business without bidding, without merit.”
He accepted that Modi’s policies have benefited him during the time the PM was Gujarat chief minister, but added that those policies were for everyone.
When asked what help he got from Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat, Adani said, “I got three big breaks in my life. The first break came in 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister and a new import-export policy came. Our company became a global trading house. The second break came in 1991, when P.V. Narasimha Rao was PM. We could do public-private partnership under Narasimha Rao and Dr. Manmohan Singh. This gave a new direction to the infrastructure in the country. It was great when Modi was the chief minister for 12 years, but I want to tell you that you cannot take any personal help from Modiji. You can talk to him about policy, discuss the interest of the country, but the policy made is for everyone, not for the Adani group alone.”
During the interview, Adani also opened up about his personal life and spoke about spending time with his children, grandchildren and how he plays cards with his wife every night to decompress — adding that it’s she who mostly wins.
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‘As long as India continues to move forward, so will the Adani balloon’
Gautam Adani, during the interview was asked about what might happen if “Adani’s balloon” was to ever “burst”. “This may be the wish of some critics. But let me tell you, Adani’s total assets are three or four times more than its debt. Nobody’s money is at risk,” he said. “As long as India continues to move forward, this balloon will continue to move forward.”
Speaking about Adani Group’s investment worth around Rs 68,000 crore in Congress-ruled Rajasthan, he said: “Capital investment is usual work for our group. CM Ashok Gehlotji had invited me to the Rajasthan Investors’ Programme and Rahulji himself appreciated our capital investment in a press conference. Rahulji does not have any policies which are against development. Our aim is to make maximum investment in every state possible.”
“Adani Group is happy that it is working today in 22 states and that not all of them are BJP ruled. We are working with the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, with Mamata didi in Bengal, with Naveen Patnaikji (Odisha), Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), KCR (K. Chandrashekar Rao in Telangana)…. Today I can confidently say we have not faced any problem with any of these governments,” he added.
‘Dhirubhai Ambani a role model’
On his relationship with Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Adani said he feels no rivalry. “He is a good friend. And the way he has diversified Reliance Industry to launch Reliance Jio and retail businesses apart from the traditional business is commendable,” he said.
In fact, Adani said he considers Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh’s father and founder of Reliance industries, a “role model”. “At a time when the economy was not open, he gave a new direction to the country’s development with his large thinking. Even without much money at the time, he contributed to India’s development in a big way,” he added.
Close calls
The interview was peppered with personal anecdotes. He referred to two major accidents in his life in which he came close to “losing his life”. One involved him being kidnapped. However, he added that after being released, he decided to not take revenge and didn’t regret that decision either. “I slept peacefully that night,” he said.
During the Mumbai terror attack of 2008, Adani was eating dinner with an associate at Taj Hotel. “We stood up after paying the bill and thankfully had not reached the lobby. If we had been in the lobby, we would have been trapped. The hotel staff took us upstairs through the kitchen. We were stuck there all night. Commandos came in the morning and brought us out. The professionalism with which all employees of Taj Group protected the guests was commendable. This was the second incident in my life where God protected me.”
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