Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has alleged that the government decision to award the Vizhinjam seaport project to the Adani group would be detrimental to the State’s interests.
Addressing the media here on Wednesday, he said the project which could have been implemented on the landlord model, protecting the interests of the State and the country, had been handed over to corporate forces, in a deal that would benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
“The UDF government headed by Oommen Chandy sabotaged the landlord port model to award the project to the Adani group which had earlier been denied security clearance by the UPA government at the Centre. This points to the corruption behind the deal,” he said.
Mr. Achuthanandan said the Adani group, known to be close to Mr. Modi, would have to invest only Rs.2,454 crore in the project, less than the amount that the LDF government had decided to mobilise from a consortium of banks. “The meeting Mr. Chandy, Ports Minister K. Babu, and senior officials had with the Adani group points to the corrupt deal.”
Calls for comparison
Alleging that the project in its current form would bleed the State, he called for a comparison between the project report, tender documents, and concession agreement formulated by the previous LDF regime and the revised documents prepared by the UDF government.
“The LDF is not opposed to the Vizhinjam project. We are of the opinion that it should be implemented at any cost. But if the dream project is handed over to the Adani group on a platter, we fear it could turn out to be detrimental to the state’s interests,” he said.
