Congress alleges Rs 84,084-crore ‘Samudra Manthan’ scheme will benefit Adani

The Congress on Monday said the Narendra Modi government of designing the proposed Rs 84,084-crore ‘Samudra Manthan Yojana’ to benefit private companies, particularly the Adani Group, and demanded that the programme be terminated immediately.

Addressing a press conference, Congress national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil claimed that the Union Cabinet had approved Rs 84,084 crore for the first phase of the offshore oil and gas exploration scheme. He alleged that 50 per cent of the project funding would be given directly to the company undertaking the exploration.

Gohil described the programme as another example of what he alleged was the Modi government’s preference for the Adani Group.

“It’s clear that from this ‘Samudra Manthan’, poison will come to the public’s share and nectar to Adani’s share,” he said.

The Congress leader claimed that procedural requirements for offshore exploration ordinarily involved purchasing blocks and obtaining environmental and other regulatory approvals. He alleged that the Adani Group was already positioned to benefit because it had secured clearances and had three blocks ready for exploration.

Gohil also referred to a social media post by Pranav Adani praising Prime Minister Modi after information about the scheme emerged. He claimed that the timing indicated who was likely to benefit from the programme.

The Congress spokesperson said Adani and Welspun had established a joint venture for oil and gas exploration in 2005. According to him, the Adani Group holds a 65 per cent stake in the venture, while Welspun owns the remaining 35 per cent.

He claimed the company had been operating at a loss and alleged that the new scheme could improve its commercial prospects. He also cited comments purportedly made by the company’s managing director about the programme enabling it to make significant progress.

Gohil further alleged a link between the policy and political funding, claiming that the Welspun Group had donated Rs 10 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party through electoral bonds.

He drew a parallel with oil and gas exploration undertaken in Gujarat when Modi was the state’s chief minister. Gohil said Rs 27,000 crore had been allocated for exploration at the time but claimed that a Comptroller and Auditor General report found that the expenditure had failed to produce the expected results.

The Congress leader alleged that the money had been wasted and that some of the wells existed only on paper. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the findings concerning the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation.

Gohil also cited other decisions that he claimed demonstrated preferential treatment for the Adani Group. He referred to a 6,600 MW power tender awarded around the Maharashtra elections and alleged that it had gone to Adani through a single-bid process.

He further questioned the allocation of coal mining blocks in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district, claiming that concerns involving the environment, tiger reserves and elephant corridors had been disregarded.

According to Gohil, the government had told Parliament that a gram sabha resolution was mandatory for such allocations. He alleged that this procedure was not followed in the case of a coal block associated with the Adani Group.

The Congress spokesperson also raised questions about the removal of customs duty on imported raw materials used for copper production. Referring to Kutch Copper Limited, he claimed that the government removed the 2.5 per cent customs duty on copper on 24 June 2025, benefiting the Adani-owned company.

Gohil demanded that the entire Rs 84,084 crore earmarked under the ‘Samudra Manthan Yojana’ be allocated to the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for oil and gas exploration instead of being made available to private entities.

He also asked the government to explain the decline in the country’s domestic oil and gas availability in recent years.

Questioning the proposed expenditure at a time of unemployment and agrarian distress, Gohil asked why such a large amount of public money should be directed towards private companies when young people were struggling to find work and farmers were facing economic hardship.

Neither the Union government nor the Adani and Welspun groups had issued an immediate response to the allegations.

With PTI inputs