Corporate Loot of India – Adani – The mask of Modi
What they promised:
- “I am a fakir, a humble tea seller at railway platforms.”
- “My sole aim is to provide a contented life to everybody.”
- “Sab ka sath sab ka vikas”
What has actually happened:
- The lives of ordinary people are deteriorating, while the income, assets, and wealth of the big capitalists are increasing.
- One percent of the population of the country holds as much as one-third of the country’s wealth.
- The number of multi-millionaires in this country has increased from 56 to 169.
- Adani and Ambani, close associates of Modi, currently occupy the top two positions on the list of the wealthiest individuals in the country.
- Adani’s wealth was 25,792 crores in 2013, and by 2022, it had reached 7,48,800 crores. That means it has increased by 30 times during this period.
- Ambani’s wealth was 1,54,742 crores in 2014, and by 2022, it has become 7,54,620 crores. That means it has increased by 5 times during this period.
What are the reasons behind this bizarre growth of a few:
- The Modi government is essentially a government sponsored by corporate companies. It was Ambani who invested in the rise of Modi as the Prime Minister by sidelining Vajpayee and Advani. Adani is the one who brokered deals between the corporate companies and the RSS.
- When Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, corporate companies were given unlimited and unrestricted freedom. Due to this, they supported Modi. They promised to support BJP and RSS if Modi was made the Prime Minister. Companies needed their control on government control, in order to control the nation and its resources. And the RSS – BJP needed the help of these corporate companies to form the government and stay put there with utmost power. An agreement was struck. The Modi government is the offshoot of this opportunistic and sinister agreement.
- As soon as they assumed power, all the public assets held by the government were swiftly privatized and sold off to the private companies at meagre prices. Profitable entities like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, North East Electric Power Corporation, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited, Kamarajar Port, Air India, among hundreds of others, were sold off to private entities under the guise of privatization. Ambani’s Jio Phone company has been given undue advantage by choking BSNL. Even airports, railways, and railway lines are being privatized and sold off to private entities. All these that were built at huge public costs now handed over to a handful of big corporates for nothing.
- The Modi government has been boasting that it has developed and improved national highways. In reality, the project of the development of national highways, spanning 26,700 kilometres, at an expense of 8 lakh crores is being handed over to tycoons like Adani and Ambani for 1.6 lakh crores. Under the leadership of Modi, 400 railway stations, 741 kilometres of Konkan Railway, 265 railway goods sheds, 90 passenger trains, 25 major airports, assets of NTPC, NHPC, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, gas pipeline authority, ports, 39% of FCI storage facilities, 160 stone quarries, mines, 2.86 lakh OFC cables… All of these are being privatized and handed over to private individuals / corporate companies [in return for electoral bonds as kickbacks], What else is this but the auctioning off of the country.
- Instead of distributing the millions of acres of government land among the poor, the Modi government has allocated it to corporate companies. Millions of acres of land have been forcefully acquired from farmers and handed over to them under the pretext of development. Forest dwellers’ lives have been turned to a state of imprisonment by fencing them within altered forest laws, while companies have been provided with forest land under the show of developing tourism, conducting research and initiating development projects.
- Many mistakenly believe that the wealthy deposit their money in banks, which then lend it to the poor. In reality, it is the common people who deposit money in the banks. Most of this money is given as loans to companies. The phenomenon of Companies not returning loans has increased significantly. Instead of seizing the assets of the companies that did not repay loans, around 30 lakh crores worth of loans of these have been waived.
- The burden on the people shot up through raising the cess on petrol and diesel, and GST in the past ten years. But tax waivers worth 55 lakh crores have been given to some billionaires.
- The tax on corporate companies has been reduced from 33% to 25%. Old companies are diversifying into various fields under new names. The tax on these, under the guise of encouragement for new companies, has been reduced to 15%. We must remember that nowhere in the world do companies enjoy such low taxes.
- In the last 10 years, the waivers and tax exemptions granted to corporate companies exceed the annual budget of the entire country. Therefore, the Modi government is akin to heaven for these companies. [what may seem like a heaven for corporations is often only hell for the common people.]
- Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal has directly stated in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, in great details, that “Adani” is Modi’s “benami” (proxy). He has exposed how everything owned by Adani is actually owned by Modi. He has revealed how they have transferred the vast public wealth of the country to the Adani company and how, during every foreign trip, they have pressurised the governments there to extend all benefit to the Adani company. (The full video is available on YouTube.)
- The harsh reality that needs to be understood here is that the Modi government is a government of the corporates, by the corporates, and for the corporates. It has given complete liberty to business corporations to loot public wealth, oppress farmers, exploit labourers, and monopolize trade in all sectors without leaving any room for competition. There is a naked nexus between few selected corporates and the central government. This is the government of the supra rich Gujarati Marwadis. Open your eyes now. Ham do, hamare do…Two wealthy Marwadis, along with two others, are wreaking havoc on the country on one side, and on the other, they are filling their treasure chests. The country is trapped in the net of these great villains, the great traitors of the country and its people.
Eddelu Karnataka is an independent civil society platform and campaign.It is not affiliated with any political party. Its soul is the thinkers, writers and artists who are the conscience keepers of the nation and democracy. The strength of Eddelu is the combination of organizations and grassroots movements of farmers, workers, Dalits, students, youth, women, LGBTQIA movemnts etc., who have been working selflessly for the welfare of the people for many decades, from various communities (Dalit, Tribal, Tribal, Backward Classes, Vokalinga, Lingayat, minority communities and other exploited sections) and it is a broad civil society.
