Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Wednesday that Mumbai’s airport changed hands ‘at the speed of light’. The Shiv Sena leader took to Twitter, saying the GVK group will deny there was “pressure” to hand over the Mumbai airport.
“The fact is that Mumbai airport changed hands at the speed of light: – June 26, 2020, CBI registered a case against GVK – July 1, CBI raided them – July 7, ED registered a case of money laundering and CBI subpoena – Aug 31, agreement signed to hand over airports to Adani Group,” he tweeted.
She said that the GVK group will deny that there was pressure for the handover. She said that when the central government agencies, ED and CBI, can raid them once at the government’s ‘orders’, they can do it ‘again’.
“Obviously GVK group will deny there was pressure to hand over the airport because when ED, CBI can knock on their door once at GoI’s behest then they can do it again to save GoI face,” he tweeted.
This comes at a time when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the Narendra Modi government had tweaked the rule to favor Adani and that India’s most profitable airport was ‘removed from the ‘usage agencies’ of GVK.
“This rule was changed by the government and Adani was given six airports. After that, India’s most strategic and profitable airport, Mumbai Airport, was withdrawn from GVK usage agencies,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“The result is that 24 percent of India’s air traffic and 31 percent of air cargo go through Adani airports,” he added.
The congress leader attacked the government, saying the fortunes of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, rose after the BJP came to power in 2014.
However, the GVK group has denied the allegations. GV Sanjay Reddy, did not force GVK to hand over Mumbai airport to Adani Group.
In July 2021, GVK handed over control of Mumbai airport to Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. Gandhi previously alleged that the Modi government “hijacked” GVK’s “most profitable airport in India” using agencies like CBI and ED and sequestered it. gave Adani. However, Reddy told NDTV that there was no such pressure from anyone.
Prior to the sale, GVK was considering raising funds as the debt its airport holding company had incurred when buying the Bengaluru airport was coming due.
However, there were a number of restrictions on his investment. The coronavirus epidemic began at that time. The airport business was closed for three months and didn’t make any money, Reddy said.
The Adani Group has been under fire since US short seller Hindenburg Research accused the Adani Group of ‘blatant scheme of stock manipulation and accounting fraud over the course of decades’.