After Adani, OCCRP Targets Vedanta; Alleges Company Lobbied To Weaken Environmental Rules During Pandemic

On Thursday, OCCRP alleged that partners of the Adani promoter family invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Adani Group stocks via opaque investment funds based in Mauritius

Indian conglomerate Vedanta ran a "covert" lobbying campaign to weaken key environmental regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic, citing a report by Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) news agency Reuters said. According to OCCRP, Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agarwal in January 2021 told former Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar the government could add "impetus" to India's economic recovery by allowing mining firms to boost production by up to 50 per cent by bypassing new green clearances.

On Thursday, OCCRP also alleged that partners of the Adani promoter family invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Adani Group stocks via opaque investment funds based in Mauritius. OCCRP, backed by funding from entities like George Soros and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, report follows previous claims of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation, and misuse of tax havens by the Adani conglomerate.

Adani Group has "categorically" denied allegations of accounting fraud, stock price manipulation, and misuse of tax havens levelled by OCCRP. The conglomerate called OCCRP charges “recycled” and “bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report.”

According to Reuters, Vedanta's oil business, Cairn India, also successfully lobbied to have public hearings scrapped for exploratory drilling in oil blocks it won in government auctions, the report said. The report pointed out that Vedanta told OCCRP that as "one of the leading natural resources organisations in India" the company operated "with an objective of import substitution by enhancing domestic production in a sustainable manner."

"In view of the same, continuous representations are submitted for consideration to the Government in the best interest of national development and India's march towards self-reliance in natural resources," a company spokesperson told OCCRP.

Vedanta and Cairn India did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.