Firing a fresh salvo at the government, the Congress on Sunday pointed to Adani Group's alleged China links and asked why the conglomerate is still being permitted to operate ports in India.

Attacking the Centre, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which claimed that the government denied security clearance in 2022 to a consortium of APM Terminals Management and Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines after agencies discovered a connection between a Wan Hai director and a Chinese firm. This blocked the consortium's bid to operate a container handling terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Ramesh said in a statement, pointing out that it is a government policy to prevent Chinese firms and entities with Chinese connections from operating ports and terminals in India.

"This raises fresh questions about the Adani Group's China links. As we have repeatedly pointed out in our Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun (HAHK) series of questions to PM Narendra Modi, Chinese citizen Chang Chung-Ling is closely associated with the Adani Group," Ramesh alleged.

"His son owns PMC Projects, a firm that has constructed ports, terminals, rail lines, power lines and other infrastructure assets for the Adani Group. The Adani Group and PMC were alleged to be involved in a Rs 5,500 crore power equipment over-invoicing scam by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence," he claimed.

Ramesh also said the Adani Group has been known to have operated at least two Shanghai-based shipping companies, one of which was involved in the "illegal sale of petroleum products to the close China ally North Korea".

Given these close China links, why is the Adani Group being permitted to operate ports in India, Ramesh asked.

"Why is it being permitted to buy up port after port, in some cases after raids on previous owners, with no thought to the serious security implications?" he said.

The opposition led by the Congress has been seeking a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in the Adani issue after the Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share-price manipulation, against the Group.

The Gautam Adani-led group has dismissed the charges as lies, and said they comply with all laws and disclosure requirements.

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