Adani Group involved in Rs 50,000-cr power scam, says Cong, demands a SC-monitored CBI probe

New Delhi, Aug 18 : Charging the industrial House Adani enterprises of being involved in a Rs 50,000-cr scam related to production of power by over-invoicing the import of electrical equipment, which resulted in the consumer having to pay Rs 2 per unit as power tariff, the Congress today demanded an enquiry by the CBI monitored by the Supreme court into the scandal. The Congress also demanded a reduction in the price of power tariff by up to a factor of Rs 2 per unit wherever these companies are producing and transmitting electricity. Talking to reporters here, AICC senior spokesperson Ajay Maken said,'on February 5, 2013, the Congress-led UPA Government initiated an enquiry into the practice of over invoicing on import of electrical equipment by a subsidiary of the Adani Enterprises Ltd -- a leading power company in India. 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. Finally, on the basis of the investigation conducted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, on May 25, 2014, a 97 page show cause notice was issued to the subsidiary of Adani Enterprises. The DRI report found that Adani Enterprises inflated power imports via their UAE shell company.' Mr Maken said that the content of the report, which was recently put in public domain by a leading international publication, gave clear and compelling evidence of over-invoicing of machinery by the Adani Group. Quoting the report, Mr Maken said,'The modus operandi followed was that for power sector imports… are sent directly to India, the documents are routed through an intermediary entity created by them in the UAE, viz. M/s. Electrogen Infra FZE, who raised inflated invoices (inflating the values of original invoices of OEM several times) on the Indian company, against which money is remitted to UAE. The activities of M/s Electrogen Infra FZE, UAE are apparently controlled and managed by the Adani Group through one or more of its representative firms and/or personnel. Intelligence further suggested that from UAE, while actual invoice value is remitted to respective OEMs, the extra amount is routed to the Mauritius account of the parent company of M/s Electrogen Infra FZE i.e. M/s Electrogen Infra Holdings Pvt. Ltd.” Charging the BJP-led NDA Government of going slow on the investigation against the Adani Group, Mr Maken said,'with the change of guard, the BJP-led NDA Government decided to go slow on this important matter, and as a result, till today, the investigation has not reached its logical end. Moreover, Mr Gautam Adani -- chief of Adani Group, which is an accused in this ongoing investigation, is often seen accompanying Mr Modi, on various foreign tours. The Modi Government has made mockery of law by overlooking many scams of its industrialist friends, including ones that involve siphoning public money.' Mr Maken said that as per the DRI report, the over invoicing of imports involved a scam to the tune of Rs 50,000-crore. 'As per the investigative reports available in public domain, the entire scam could be estimated at a mind boggling sum of ₹50,000-crores, across multiple companies, and affecting various components of power sector including purchase of coal, setting up of plant for generation of electricity and equipment for transmission of power. Will the Prime Minister choose to slyly put a lid over this humongous scam which may indict his close friends and alleged financier of BJP’s 2014 Lok Sabha elections?" If Modi Sarkar wants to go beyond hollow rhetoric then, the Congress Party demands that there should be an immediate reduction in the power costs by up to a factor of ₹2/ unit wherever these companies are producing and transmitting electricity, as the cost of over invoicing of machinery imported by the Adani Group and other similarly situated entities, is ultimately borne by the consumer. The BJP Government should immediately order an immediate CBI investigation monitored by a judge of the Supreme Court into the corrupt practices of over-invoicing which in turn lead to grossly inflated prices for the public. This Commission would also look into other issues of tax avoidance and the use of shell-companies- both being issues on which PM Modi himself has made the loudest promises,' Mr Maken said. He also demanded that the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) exercise its powers under Section 79 of the Electricity Act, 2003 to conduct investigation and reopen the affairs of all private power generating entities to identify all such cases of fake over-pricing of all such equipment, and further bring down electricity tariff in the Country. He said that the Congress Party would pursue this matter to the fullest extent by also filing a petition before the CERC utilising the data available in the public domain. UNI