: Hitting back at Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for his accusation that he was trying to scuttle the Vizhinjam project, Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has said that Mr. Chandy’s charge was nothing but an election stunt.
In a statement here on Friday, Mr. Achuthanandan termed curious the Chief Minister’s statement barely a few hours before commencement of polling in the Aruvikkara by-election.
The Chief Minister, he pointed out, had maintained silence all these days despite his having written a three-part article ‘exposing’ Mr. Chandy’s attempt ‘to sell off’ Vizhinjam project to Narendra Modi’s confidant Gautham Adani.
Although the Chief Minister had claimed that his meeting with Mr. Adani at MP K.V. Thomas’ house in New Delhi was official, he has not so far released the minutes of the meeting. The people of Kerala believed that Mr. Chandy had taken money from the Adanis, he claimed.
Project outlay
Mr. Achuthanandan pointed out that out of total project outlay of Rs. 7,525 crore, Rs. 5,071 crore was being spent by the Union and State governments. The Adanis would have to spend only Rs. 2,454 crore.
Despite spending only one-third of the project cost, the Adanis would get the entire revenue from the port for 60 years. The State would get only 1 per cent of the revenue during this period.
This was against the normal practice of the ones who spend more getting a larger share of the revenue.
The money that the government expects from the Adanis could be raised from a consortium of banks. That would have ensured government control over the port.
‘The Oommen Chandy government has surrendered the State’s interests before a corporate’
