Gautam Adani Lauds India's Covid Handling, Says Vaccination Efforts Larger Than 87 Other Countries Combined

Lauding country's vaccination efforts, Adani said India's vaccination effort is larger than the combined efforts of 87 other countries.

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. (File Photo/ Getty)

Mumbai: Billionaire Gautam Adani, Asia's second-richest person on Tuesday, defended India's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, saying in the rush to lay blame and find fault, it is possible that we failed to acknowledge another, more positive side to the story of how we handled and continue to manage the Covid crisis.

"This does not mean that there cannot be any criticism. In a democracy, we must hold ourselves to account. Criticism cannot be at the cost of national dignity. It cannot be at the cost of degrading a nation. It cannot be about dividing the society," said Mr. Adani while addressing the JP Morgan India Investor Summit.

Lauding India's vaccination efforts, Adani said, "India has more people than Europe, North America, and Oceania put together, which also means that India's vaccination effort is larger than the combined efforts of 87 other countries. For comparison, while the daily vaccination count in the US is currently around 800,000, India is vaccinating 12 times that number or around 10 million people every day. Even if the United States and other countries have completely vaccinated a greater percentage of the population, the pace at which India has accelerated its vaccination programme, despite all the hurdles, is unmatched."

According to Adani, India had nothing to do with the virus yet has suffered some of its most drastic consequences.

"Perhaps we could have done some things better and, of course, every life lost is a tragedy. But the sheer size of our population arguably makes the challenge posed by Covid in India greater than in any other major nation," said Adani.

Amid talk of Adani Group venturing into the media space, Mr. Adani said, "Under the liberty of press freedom, coverage cannot be biased. There is always another side of the story which unfortunately was not told."

Adani Group has roped in media veteran Sanjay Pugalia as CEO and Editor in Chief of Adani Group, a move that has sparked speculation that the Adani group is launching a television and digital media company.