Zee Media Bureau/Tarun Khanna
New Delhi: The man repeatedly accused of being given `special favours` by BJP`s PM candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Adani Group head Gautam Adani on Sunday rebuffed such claims, saying that he did his business within the `framework of policy` outlined by the government.
In an interview to a TV news channel, Adani reiterated that said that he had not got any special favours from Modi and maintained that he was a non-political person.
“The land given to us was not agricultural land, but a waste land which we got developed later. We did not get any special favours, said Adani.
He further added, “"When we began acquiring land at Mundra in 1993, the then chief minister Chimanbhai Patel charged us 10 paisa per square meter where as BJP`s Keshubhai Patel charged us Rs 1 per sq mt and RJP`s Shankersinh Vaghela charged Rs 1.5 per sq mt. Under Modi, we got some 5,000 acre of land at an average of Rs 15 per sq mt rate," he said.”
When questioned about providing planes and choppers to politicians, he said that Adani Group provides such facility to anyone who wants to hire them from the group.
While comparing Modi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Adani said that the former has emphasised more on infrastructure, whereas the latter`s indecisiveness has been seen in the past three years.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in his political meetings has often used Adani`s name to attack Modi. He recently claimed that Modi had given Adani land for Rs 1, `the price of a toffee`.
Reacting to this, Adani said that both Rahul and Priyanka are being misinformed about Adani Group.
On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party`s chief Arvind Kejriwal has also alleged a nexus between Adani and Modi.
A school dropout, Adani moved to Mumbai at the age of 16 to try luck. He initially dabbled in diamond trade before returning to his home state Gujarat to run a small plastic factory owned by his brother.
Eventually, he set up his own import and export business, Adani Enterprises in 1988. Few years later he borrowed heavily and invested in Mundra`s vast swathes of marshy wasteland to build India`s largest port, PTI reported.
In Mundra, Adani also built India`s largest privately- owned power plant, producing 4,620 MW of power, and a 64-km railway connecting the port to railway network.
