Coal news and updates

Congress questions SBI’s loan to Adani for coal mine Down Under

The Congress has asked if the State Bank of India had done the due diligence before extending the massive loan to the Adani group for development of coal mine in Australia, questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "keen interest" in the issue.

Raising the red flag on the much-publicized loan, AICC general secretary Ajay Maken, at a special press briefing on Thursday, said, "What was the propriety of the SBI giving the loan to Adani, who was sitting next to PM during the visit (to Australia), at a time when five foreign banks have denied credit to the group for the project?"

Maken said the PM had appeared to be "promoting" Adani in securing the loan worth Rs 6,200 crore during the visit Down Under for which the SBI chairman too had been called. He asked why was the SBI not making public the MoU signed with the Adani group for the project that would put in the public domain the conditions and liabilities agreed to for the loan.

Dubbing the loan as "crony capitalism" being pursued by Modi, the Congress spokesperson wondered, "When five top foreign banks have already declined to fund Adani's project, what was the need and the sense in giving such a huge loan to him from the hard-earned money deposited by the common people?"

Maken claimed there were contradictions in the PM's thrust on Aussie coal and the vision laid out by coal minister Piyush Goyal. "Whether the PM is saying the right thing or the coal minister? The PM had said that the whole of India would be lighted with Australian coal. On the other hand, the coal minister said in next 2-3 years, India would be able to stop the import of coal," he said.

The opposition party is planning to raise the issue in Parliament which convenes on Monday for the winter session. "We will be actively collaborating with and talking to other parties ... We will play a very important role of the opposition during the session," he said.

Source: The Times of India