Rahul Gandhi urges govt. to begin investigation over rising coal prices

Rahul Gandhi press brieing from AICC headquarters in New Delhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on October 18, addressed the rising coal prices in India and alleged that Adani has directly looted the people of the country through high electricity bills.

“Citizens should know that their power bills have gone up because of over-invoicing of coal imports by the Adani group. Earlier, we had mentioned that it was ₹20,000 crore that was unaccounted but it had gone up by another ₹12,000 crore. So the total is ₹32,000 crore,” he said and cited a story published by the Financial Times in London, that talks about Adani’s involvement in the rising coal prices.

He added that the issue is about power, electricity bills and theft but the Indian media does not ask one question. Mr. Gandhi said, “The story would have brought down “any government anywhere in the world” and this is a direct theft by a man protected by the Prime Minister of India.”

He also wondered why Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) couldn’t find documents against the Adani group when Financial Times London had access to all the documents. “It is clear that there is protection at the highest level,” he said.

Speaking about power subsidy issued by the Karnataka Government, he said, “The Congress government in Karnataka is giving a power subsidy and has promised a similar subsidy in Madhya Pradesh but now it is clear that the increased power bills are because of over-invoicing of imported coal, used to produce power.”

Mr. Gandhi also asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not ordered an inquiry against Mr. Adani despite all these questions. “Come clean, start an investigation. Defend your credibility,” he said.