Sanjay Nirupam drags PMO into power deal between Reliance, Adani

Sanjay Nirupam

Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam has alleged that the inflated deal for 100% sale of a debt-ridden power business belonging to Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) to Adani Transmission Limited, is a bailout plan for the former.

Nirupam told media persons on Tuesday that the deal needed to be stalled because, if approved, would greatly impact suburban electricity consumers through a hiked tariff in the coming years.

He said the deal happened at the behest of the Prime Minister's office so that the money that Ambani's defence procurement arm would get in kickbacks for facilitating a controversial Rafale aircraft deal, could be laundered through this transaction. "This will help the owners of RInfra recover financially and has been meticulously planned," he said.

The Congress leader said the valuation of RInfra's Mumbai business was highly inflated. "The valuation report in 2016 by a chartered accountancy firm M/s SSPA, which was approved by SEBI, was just Rs 5,575 crore, whereas the valuation for a deal with Adani is Rs 18,000 crore, a difference of Rs 12,425 crore," said Nirupam, casting doubt on the deal itself.

Nirupam said he had written to Maharashtra Electricity Regulator Commission (MERC), which has confirmed that the deal cannot be finalised without its approval. He said he would write to MERC again to verify the valuation and stall the deal. "If approved, the new owner will seek a hefty hike in tariff, which ultimately will hit 30 lakh end consumers," he said.

According to Nirupam, the PMO has been deciding on such mergers and acquisitions. "Tell us where will a debt-ridden Adani company, with a debt of Rs 70,000 crore, get finance for purchasing Reliance Energy's Mumbai business? Which financial institution or bank will give Adani a loan of this size?"

He suspected a bailout plan for Reliance Energy's parent company, which had declared in a press release last year that the transaction with Adani would make it debt-free and add Rs 3,000 crore to its coffers. When contacted, RInfra's official spokesperson said the company would not respond to political allegations. Valuation documents mid-day requested for to verify Nirupam's claims weren't received till this report went to press.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates