New Delhi: The GVK Group on Wednesday categorically denied the allegation levelled by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi that the group had sold its stake in Mumbai’s airport to Adani Group. According to a report by news agency PTI, the business conglomerate said that there was “no extraneous pressure” to sell its stake in Mumbai airport.
The company’s statement 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 India".
"GVK 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 the news agency.
Adani Group, which is currently in the eye of a storm over the recent report by short-seller Hindenburg Research over its company's business dealings, took over the management of the Mumbai airport from GVK Group in July 2021.
GVK Group Vice Chairman Sanjay Reddy while explaining the circumstances to a TV news channel said that Gautam Adani had approached him saying he had a lot of interest in the airport and whether GVK Group was willing to do a transaction with him, at a time when the group was looking to raise funds for the airport business.
"... 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 didn't see any light of day with the other investors," Reddy said.