Congress MP Manish Tewari accuses govt of discriminating against Punjab, its people to benefit Adani

New Delhi: Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday accused the Centre of discriminating against the people of Punjab to benefit the Adani group by directing the state government to ensure that coal is procured through a long route that includes ports operated by the conglomerate.

Speaking on the matter of urgent public importance in Lok Sabha, Tewari said for generating power, Punjab procures coal from the Mahanadi Coalfields.

"If that coal is brought directly to Punjab via rail road the distance that it has to travel is 1,830 km. The power ministry wrote a letter to the Punjab government on November 30, 2022, and said that it cannot get the coal directly via rail road and will have to take the coal to Paradeep port, then take the water route passing by Sri Lanka and reach the Adani ports in Dahej and Mundra, and then from there take the coal 1,500 km via rail road to Punjab," he claimed.

The Congress member alleged that the government is "discriminating" against the government and the people of Punjab to benefit Adani.

"The cost of coal transportation has gone up from Rs 4,350 per tonne to Rs 6,750 per tonne. The cost of 1KW power has increased from Rs 3.6 to Rs 5," he claimed.

The MP from Punjab's Anandpur Sahib urged the government to take back the directive and allow coal to be procured from the Mahanadi Coalfields directly by the rail route.

Tewari's remarks come in the wake of continued attack on the government over the Adani-Hindenburg issue and the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into it.

Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after US-based short-selling firm Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the business conglomerate.

The group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party's S T Hasan raised the issue of stray cattle and said 'gau rakshaks' raise false allegations when accidents happen with cows. He urged the government to deal with the issue of stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh.

DNV Senthilkumar of the DMK raised the issue of online gambling and claimed in Tamil Nadu, 42 people committed suicide after of losing money.

The MP said the Tamil Nadu government had passed a bill on online gambling and had sent it to the governor for assent four months ago. He asked why assent was not being given to the bill.