Review
The growth of the Adani group, in particular abroad, reflected Modi’s political ascendant. Consequently, the controversy involving Adani projects causes a backlash against India as a whole.
A “Stop Adani” demonstration seeking to stop the Adani Carmichael coal mine in Australia on October 3, 2017.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / John Englart
Few heard about it two decades ago. Today, at 62, Gautam Adani – a university dropout which is very close to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – is one of the richest people in the world. Adani’s corporate conglomerate rides energy, transport, cement, defense equipment, edible oils, food distribution and many other things, in the country and around the world.
The market capitalization of the Adani group, including a dozen companies whose stocks are listed on the stock market, exceeds $ 200 billion. (Market capitalization is the nominal value on the part of a company multiplied by its price at a given time.) In addition, Adani, family members and partners control directly or indirectly at least 1,000 entities, many of which are based on tax havens where little or no tax is paid on the benefits of the company.
In a way of speaking, which Elon Musk is for the American president Donald Trump, Adani is in Modi, but with an important difference: Adani has no position in the government of India. However, New Delhi has shaped policies, changed the rules, the standards folded and looked at the other direction when Adani’s investigations took place – the most blatant of which is an accusation act for the corruption and the concealment of information in the United States.
Modi has traveled the world to promote Adani’s commercial interests. In the process, however, the Indian Prime Minister has harmed his country’s relations with at least two neighboring countries, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as with other countries such as Kenya – all places where Adani projects local controversy and resentment.
The growth of the Adani group reflects the political ascendant of Modi – first as minister -in -chief of the west of the Indians of Gujarat for more than 12 years, from October 2001, then as Prime Minister of the country from May 2014. Adani accompanied Modi during several of his official trips outside India. Along the way, Adani has set up or tried to establish – in some cases, without success – commercial operations in countries like Australia, Bangladesh, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.
These projects have not always progressed gently.