Gautam Adani Says Every Project Taken Up Is Based On Competitive Bidding Process

The diversification of Adani Group into various sectors over the last decade is led by industry-friendly policies of states and centre and Adani entered these sectors through a competitive bidding process done in a transparent manner, said Gautam Adani, Chairman of Adani Group in an interview with television channel India TV.

Adani said, “We did not get a single project without bidding. Our Adani group has this philosophy of not touching any project without bidding, whether it is a port, an airport, roads or power project. There is not a single allegation that we ‘managed' bidding.”

The Adani Group has now operations across 22-states, which are governed by both Bharatiya Janata Party and other parties. And the group has expressed investment plans in all these states ranging from ports, airports, roads and highways, real estate, data centres and consumer sector.

"I can say with clarity that we do not have any problem with any state government. 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,” said Adani.

From a business standpoint, Adani emphasised that his journey began with the opening of the economy by Rajiv Gandhi. This was when he opened his export trading house. A few years later, when PV Narasimha Rao was prime minister, he entered into public-private partnership mode. Subsequently the state government policies on coastal development took him to Mundra, where he set up the group's first port, which is today the largest port in the country.

The coming to power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2014 did not bring any favours, said Adani.

“I want to tell you that you can never get any personal help from Modi Ji. You can speak to him about policies in the national interest, but when the policy is framed, it is available for all, not only for Adani group,” Adani said.

The businesses of the Adani Group have grown with an infusion of both equity and debt - both from domestic banks and from the international market. The debt raised by the group is rated at par with the sovereign rating, which gives banks comfort when they lend, said Adani.

Over the years, the contribution of domestic banks to project financing has dropped from 80% in 2013 to 35% now. The remainder is raised from the international market, where lending is only based on credit rating, he said.

"In the last seven-eight years, our loans rose by 11%, while our income rose by 24%. It is because of our profitability that our ratings improved. Today our profitability is more than our borrowings," said Adani.

Adani, over the course of the last two years, shot to the top of the world's rich list. He attributes this to the success of the Indian economy. In his opinion, India is now in a position where its economy can touch $30 trillion by 2050. This will be coupled with an increase in per capita income and a rise in job opportunities.

Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.