Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, recently met with Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. This meeting comes shortly after Adani Enterprises was announced as the lowest bidder for the 16.75-km Hebbal-Silk Board tunnel road project in Bengaluru. The state government has yet to award the contract for this project, which has attracted significant attention due to its implications for infrastructure development in the city.
Adani reportedly met Shivakumar at the chief minister’s residence on Sunday after visiting the ashram of Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji in Kanakapura. The details of the meeting have not been disclosed. Neither the chief minister’s office nor the Adani Group has issued an official statement on the discussions.
The tunnel road is proposed to be developed under the Build-Operate-Transfer model. However, the higher bid has left the government with several options. The state cabinet will have to decide whether to accept the bid, negotiate with Adani Enterprises to bring down the quoted amount or cancel the tender and invite fresh bids. Ashoka asked whether Shivakumar had sought Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s approval before meeting Adani, pointing to what he described as a contradiction in the Congress party’s approach towards the industrialist. “Congress opposes Adani in Delhi, while in Karnataka the same party appears to be welcoming him. Isn’t this a double standard?
The project, being implemented through Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Limited (B-SMILE), has an estimated cost of ₹ 17,698 crore. Adani Enterprises has quoted ₹ 22,267 crore, which is around ₹ 4,569 crore higher than the government’s estimated project cost. Under the proposed arrangement, the government would provide 40 per cent of the project cost as viability gap funding, while the private developer would bear the remaining 60 per cent.
Ashoka said. He alleged that the Karnataka government had “rolled out a red carpet” for Adani and questioned the ruling party’s stance on the business group.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka questioned the meeting between chief minister DK Shivakumar and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.
