We do business in 22 states, not all are with BJP: Gautam Adani counters Congress criticism

Gautam Adani said his company took off in the 80s when the Congress's Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister.

New Delhi, Jan 07: Industrialist Gautam Adani on Saturday countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegations that the Modi government has been favouring the industrialists relating to bank loans and infrastructure projects.

Appearing on Aap Ki Adalat, hosted by Rajat Sharma, Adani said, "You can never get any personal help from Modi ji. You can speak to him about policies in the national interest, but when a policy is framed, it is for all, not only for the Adani group," he said.

Refuting allegations of favour, Adani said, "We want to make maximum investments in every state... Adani group is working in 22 states, and all these states are not BJP-ruled. We are working even in Left-ruled Kerala, in Mamata didi's West Bengal, in Naveen Patnaik ji's Odisha, in Jaganmohan Reddy's state, even KCR's state."

Adani also said that his success began when the Congress was in charge of the country.

"I got three big breaks in my life. First, in 1985 during Rajiv Gandhi's rule, when Exim policy allowed our company to become a global trading house. Second, in 1991, when PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh opened up the economy, and we entered into public-private partnership mode. And third, during Narendra Modi's 12-year-long rule in Gujarat," Adani told journalist Rajat Sharma.

"Gujarat is investor-friendly, not Adani-friendly," Adani stressed.

Rahul Gandhi has been maintaining that businessmen "close to PM Modi" that is Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani rose in the list of the wealthiest in the world "like a rocket" at the cost of poor.