Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam today alleged that the "takeover" of debt-ridden Mumbai power business of Reliance Infrastructure by Adani Transmission Ltd was a deal executed at the behest of the Prime Minister's Office to "bail out" Anil Ambani.
Shareholders of billionaire Anil Ambani-led Reliance Infrastructure Ltd had last month approved the sale of the firm's Mumbai power business to Adani Transmission Ltd for Rs 18,800 crore.
The deal will see Adani Group taking over the distribution of over 1,800 megawatt (MW) of power to roughly 30 lakh customers in Mumbai and 500 MW of thermal power generation capacity.
"The GTD (generation, transmission and distribution) business of Reliance Infrastructure's Reliance Energy, which supplies electricity to Mumbai suburbs,was valued at Rs 5,575 crore two years ago.
Nirupam alleged at a press conference here that the entire deal was being executed "at the behest of the PMO to bail out Reliance Infrastructure whose owner Anil Ambanihas ventured into defence production and procurement".
Nirupam said the "closeness" of Anil Ambani and Gautam Adani of Adani Group with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "well known".
"There is no evidence to suggestthat the valuation of Reliance Infrastructure hasgrown. Reliance Infra's stock value wasRs 505 apiece in December 2017 when the deal was announced while it is Rs 441 apiece at present. Similarly, Reliance Energy's scrip was trading at Rs 40.30 apiece while it is trading at Rs 37.35 apiece now," the Congress leader said and asked "which bankis going to fund this deal?"
When contacted, a spokesperson of Reliance Infrastructure refused to comment on the allegations.
Nirupamsaid hehad requested the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC)to have a closer scrutiny of the deal.
"Without approval of the MERC, no takeover (in the power sector) can happen. We fear that the liability of both the companies will be passed on to the 30 lakh power consumers in Mumbai suburbs, 10 lakh of whom are slum dwellers," he said while underlining the need for "transparency" in executing such mega deals.
Nirupam said he had appealed to the MERC against raising power bills.
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