Trinamool raises issue of SBI loan to Adani Group

Terms it crony capitalism

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Trinamool Congress friction, in Parliament and in West Bengal, continued on Thursday.

The Trinamool members protested in Parliament, demanding answers from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government for its "failure" to bring back unaccounted (black) money stashed in foreign banks. A Trinamool member of Parliament (MP) raised the issue of the State Bank of India (SBI) sanctioning $1 billion (Rs 6,100 crore) to the Adani Group's coal project in Australia, terming it "crony capitalism".

In Kolkata, BJP said the Mamata Banerjee-led state government was "scared" to allow BJP President Amit Shah to hold a rally near the Victoria Memorial Hall in the city on Sunday. The civic authorities had refused to give permission for the rally. BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh said the growth of the party in Bengal had shaken Banerjee. "We will hold the rally. The Trinamool government will be responsible for the consequences," he said.

In Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Trinamool member Derek O'Brien asked during the Zero Hour how the SBI had signed an agreement pledging one of the single largest loans to a company despite five international banks refusing to lend to the project.

Five global banks, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays, had declined to fund the project, citing decline in coal mining in Australia, coal prices falling by 50 per cent and environmental issues, he said.

He said Coal Minister Piyush Goyal had said coal imports would end in two to three years. But Adani's project was to export two-thirds of its output to India, he said.

Without naming Group Chairman Gautam Adani, he said, "this gentleman was with the Prime Minister everyday" during Narendra Modi's visit to Australia. SBI committed itself to sanction the loan over a breakfast meeting where Modi, Adani and the public sector bank's chairman were present, he said. Adani was in the business delegation when the minister had visited the United States, Japan, and Australia. "It gives a bad impression," he said. The leader said he had no problem with the central government being business-friendly but "we have a problem regarding crony capitalism."

He said the Adani shares had gone up 85 per cent in 10 months. Members from the Left, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party showed support for the TMC member on the issue.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said there were 20 people in the business delegation that had gone to Australia. "Adani is not the late Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi (with whom business cannot be done)," he remarked.

Naidu said the member had every right to raise the issue about a loan extended by SBI to a company but "taking the name of the prime minister is highly objectionable".

In the Lok Sabha, Trinamool members wore black shawls to highlight the issue of black money. On Tuesday, they were reprimanded by Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for bringing in black umbrellas as a mark of protest.