Abdul Hafiz Lakhani for BeyondHeadlines
After spewing continuous venom against Pakistan all these years and during the run up to the general elections 2014, Narendra Modi sent an invitation to Pakistan Prime Minister for his swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi. The real reason is not peace, but Adani.
Adani Power wants Narendra Modi Government’s nod for export of electricity to Pakistan, reports Financial Express. Adani Power is planning to set up a 10,000-MW thermal power plant in the Kutch region of Gujarat and the bulk of the electricity to be produced from it is likely to be exported to Pakistan. The company, a part of the $8.7-billion Adani Group, is country’s leading private sector thermal power producer with a current capacity of 8,520 MW. The ports-to-power group has plans to ramp up electricity production by over 10,000 MW by this financial year.
The mainstream media sang along with BJP’s PM candidate Mr. Modi while he made hate speeches against the Pak regime headed by PM Nawaz Sharif for the “biggest insult to India” quoting the “dehati aurat” remarks and had warned that “the country will not tolerate this.” He added that “the Indian journalists who were eating sweets served by Nawaz Sharif while he was insulting our country’s PM by using slangs, the country expected them to kick the sweets. They are answerable to my countrymen as country also has self-respect and dignity.”
Talking about his analysis of Narendra Modi’s stand on Pakistan, after interviewing Mr. Modi, Times Now editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami said:
On Pakistan, Narendra Modi was extremely clear. He has made an on-record statement that there shall be no talks if terror continues. In the past, there was talk that he was taking a middle path and could have been softening his stand. However, in his interview with Times Now, he was extremely clear about his stand. As I said, it was an on-record statement and this according to me will be a significant departure from the UPA’s stand on Pakistan.
Criticizing the government for having talks with those who behead Indian soldiers, Mr. Modi in an interview with Mr. Goswami had stated, “Bomb, bandook or pistol ki aawaz mein baatein sunai de sakti hai kya?”. Now that Mr. Modi has got majority in the elections, there’s a complete u-turn in his stand and nobody is talking about the real reasons. Today the media won’t show you those clippings. Instead, they are busy painting invitation from India’s prime minister elect as a bold step to launch a policy of regional engagement.
Adani Power has discussed the proposal of the Kutch project with the UPA-II government, but there was not much progress. The company hopes to implement the proposal during the new NDA regime as a coal-based project in phases beginning with 3,300 MW and ramp it up to 10,000 MW within the next five years.
While the initial investment would be around Rs 13,000 crore, for ramping up the capacity to 10,000 MW a total of Rs 40,000 crore would be required, according to the source. The project is likely to be implemented by Kutch Power Generation Company Limited (KPGCL), a Adani Power subsidiary. KPGCL would be responsible for generation, evacuation and transmission of electricity. The company is learnt to have acquired land at Bhadreshwar in Kutch for the project, according to sources.
Adani Power has reported a net profit of Rs 2,529 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2014, against a net loss of Rs 585.52 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. According to a company statement, its consolidated EBIDTA jumped to Rs 4859 crore in FY14, which is an increase of 322 per cent.
Last week the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence had slapped a Rs 5,500-crore show cause notice on the Adani Group for alleged over-valuation of capital equipment imports. Also last week the firm announced purchase of the Dhamra Port in Orissa.
