Greasing the Wheels

during the year ended March 31, 2013. 85 The consequence of this is that the holdings
remain off the books of any publicly listed entity.
Environmental track record - Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd
Adani has a poor environmental track record in its overseas operations, which has
implications for its suitability to operate in Australia. In Mundra, India, Adani Ports and
Special Economic Zone Ltd operates one of the world’s largest coal fired power
stations, together with a port and special economic zone. The company has an alleged
history of disregarding environmental regulations, leading to the Indian Ministry of
Environment and Forests issuing a notice in 2010 asking it to show cause why its
environmental approval should not be cancelled. 86 The Ministry found violations of the
company’s environmental approval, coastal zone regulation, and a Coastal Zone
Management Plan (which is in place since 1996) 87 . This resulted in destruction of
mangroves and obstruction of creeks and the tidal system due to large-scale coastal
reclamation. 88 This destruction continued until the mangrove forests had vanished and
local creeks had disappeared. 89
Pricing overvaluation and fraud allegations
Both the company Adani Enterprises and the individual Vinod Adani have been
involved in allegations of pricing overvaluation and fraud. 90
Adani Enterprises is one of six Adani subsidiaries named in an investigation over a $4.4
billion pricing overvaluation scandal involving imported coal from Indonesia. The
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence claims that companies were charging higher tariffs
based on the artificially inflated costs of the imported coal, and siphoning off the profit
overseas. 91
85
http://www.adaniports.com/Common/Uploads/AnnualReportTemplate/30_AReport_Annual%20Repo
rt.pdf
86
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Show Cause Notice under Section 5 of Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 for violation of the provisions of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 1991 by M/s
Mundra Port & SEZ Ltd (15 December 2010), paragraphs 1-19
87 Ibid.
88
Ibid.
89
Report of the Committee for Inspection of M/s Adani Port & SEZ Ltd, Mundra, Gujarat (April 2013),
available at http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/adani-report-290413.pdf (accessed 22 January
2015).
90 See footnote 95 and 97 below
91 The Guardian, 7 th April 2016, ‘Adani being investigated for alleged involvement in US$4.4bn coalpricing
scandal’, http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/07/adani-being-investigated-foralleged-involvement-in-us44bn-coal-pricing-scandal
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