'No pressure' to sell Mumbai airport stake to Adani: GVK Group rebuts Rahul Gandhi's statement

Business conglomerate GVK Group on Wednesday categorically said there was no extraneous pressure from anyone to sell its stake in Mumbai airport as alleged by Congress leader Rahul GandhiThe companys comments came a day after Gandhi alleged in Lok Sabha that Mumbai airport was taken away from GVK using agencies such as the CBI and the ED and was given to Adani by the Government of IndiaGVK reiterates that the decision to sell its stakes in Mumbai Airport to Adani was taken by the management and there was absolutely no question of any extraneous pressure being exerted on us GVK Group spokesperson told PTIAdani Group which is currently in the eye of a storm over the recent report by shortseller Hindenburg Research related to its companys business dealings took over the management of the Mumbai airport from GVK Group in July 2021Also Read Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questions surge in Adanis fortunes under Modi governmentWhile explaining the circumstances that led to the sale of the airport GVK Group Vice Chairman Sanjay Reddy told a TV channel that it was looking to raise funds for the airport businessReddy said that at that time Adani Group founderchairman Gautam Adani approached him saying he had a lot of interest in the airport and whether GVK Group was willing to do a transaction with him He Adani said that he will assure that we will conclude the entire transaction in one month which was very important for us So from that perspective whatever we did was in the interest of the company and the lenders who we had to repay and therefore we had to close the transaction with Adani because we didnt see any light of day with the other investors Reddy saidWhile leading the Opposition attack over the AdaniHindenburg issue in Lok Sabha on Tuesday Gandhi alleged that the government tweaked rules in favour of Adani and said the clause that no one without any prior experience would be involved in the development of airports was done away withThis rule was changed by the government and Adani was given six airports After that Indias most strategic profitable airport Mumbai Airport was taken away from GVK using agencies like the CBI ED and was given to Adani by the Government of India he allegedIn July 2021 Adani Enterprises Limited said Adani Airport Holdings Ltd AAHL the flagship holding company of Adani Groups airport business will hold nearly 98 per cent stake in GVK Airport Developers Ltd GVKADL pursuant to the rights exercised by it as a lender to the companyAAHL took over the management control of Mumbai International Airport Ltd MIALGVKADL is the holding company of GVK Airport Holdings Ltd GVKAHL which holds 5050 per cent equity stake in MIAL The latter holds 74 per cent equity stake in Navi Mumbai International Airport LtdThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever