New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday accused the government of allowing Adani group to “gain monopoly” in the defence sector and asked if it was in national interest to involve a “questionable” conglomerate in such a critical area.
Posing a set of three questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the Congress’ “Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun” series, party general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the group has been acquiring start-ups in the defence sector.
“Today is the tenth consecutive day (of the series), three pointed questions are being put to the prime minister on his role in the spectacular growth of the Adani business group. This is HAHK (Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun)-10. Chuppi todiye pradhan mantriji (break your silence prime minister),” he said on Twitter.
Since Gautam Adani’s 2017 visit to Israel, he has a “powerfully lucrative role” in the India-Israel defence relationship and has set up ventures with Israeli firms covering areas such as drones, electronics, small arms and aircraft maintenance, the Congress leader alleged and went on list several Israeli firms.
“Given that the Adani group has faced credible allegations regarding offshore shell companies for some years, is it in the national interest to hand over such a critical defence relationship to one questionable conglomerate? Is there a quid pro quo for you and the ruling party (BJP),” the Congress leader asked in one of the questions posed to the prime minister.
India has long had a number of startups and established firms that develop, manufacture and operate drones for civil and military applications, and these include public sector firms such as the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Bharat Dynamics Limited.
“Why is the government taking advantage of our armed forces’ emergency requirements and facilitating an Adani drone monopoly at the expense of startups as well as established Indian firms,” Ramesh asked.
“The group has been acquiring start-ups in the defence sector to gain monopoly in the defence sector,” the Congress leader said.
He claimed that as with drones, India has long had a number of startups and ordnance factories that develop and manufacture small arms for the civilian and the military markets.
Ramesh also spoke of Adani buying, a majority stake in the Gwalior-based PLR systems that manufactures a wide range of small arms in collaboration with an Israeli firm.
The Congress has been posing a set of three questions to the prime minister as part of a series, ever since it targeted the government on the Adani group over the Hindenburg allegations.
The party has been raising the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue and stalled both houses of Parliament during the first part of the Budget Session in support of its demand.
