Hyderabad (India), July 19 - Neftegaz.RU. According to the ET Bureau, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) accused the Narendra Modi government of causing a revenue loss to the government by camouflaging a deal entered into between private firm Essar Oil and Russian Rosneft as a government-to-government transaction.
The accusation by the TDP, which was part of the ruling NDA at the Centre until a few months ago, comes days before Parliament takes up for discussion the party’s no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
Cherukuri Kutumba Rao, a senior TDP leader and Andhra Pradesh State Planning Board vice chairman, claimed that no capital gains tax was paid in India on the transaction, part of which was executed here and the rest abroad. He also demanded that the government order a probe into the matter.
Under the Essar Oil deal, Rosneft and its partners had acquired India’s second-largest refinery, largest network of private petrol pumps, a 1,000MW power plant and the Vadinar port and oil terminal for $12.9 billion.
The deal was originally signed in October 2016 after Indian PM Modi and Vladimir Putin met at a summit in Goa. Rao alleged that while the agreement for selling a 49% stake was entered into in India, transactions pertaining to sale of another 49% holding in Essar Oil took place overseas and the money changed hands abroad.
