Congress trying in vain to keep Lavalin issue alive: Kerala Finance minister T M Thomas Isaac
TNN | Apr 8, 2019, 09:19 IST
Kerala Finance minister T M Thomas IsaacTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance minister T M Thomas Isaac has said that the Congress party was trying in vain to project SNC-Lavalin case as a major issue in the Lok Sabha elections, “which people discarded during the 2016 assembly elections”.
“Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala is trying to build a smokescreen around KIIFB masala bond by unnecessarily dragging in SNC-Lavalin. It’s the CDPQ, a Canadian public sector company, which has invested in our masala bond and not SNC-Lavalin,” Isaac said in a Facebook post.
But Chennithala thinks that Congress party could try a failed experiment once again and make electoral gains, he added.
Citing an “interesting continuity” for the opposition leader’s reservations on KIIFB, Isaac said the former had termed the concept “a fantasy” when KIIFB projects were announced in the assembly. “When the projects were nearing implementation, he began spreading doubts among bidders deliberately saying these were projects sans funds. Finally, on the very day KIIFB masala bonds entered the international market, he called it a fraud. The latest graft allegations are part of his agenda to annihilate KIIFB and the infrastructure development it promises for Kerala,” he said.
Pointing out that CDPQ has investments worth $220 billion across 75 countries, including $4.5 billion (Rs 31,500 crore) in India, Isaac said the Union government’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) was cooperating with CDPQ in various projects. “CDPQ has investments worth Rs 130 million in the securities of central government. Chennithala can ask Nandan Nilekani (Infosys co-founder and Congress leader) to get a clear figure on CDPQ investments in India,” he said.
It’s for the first time in the country that a state-level venture is mobilizing capital from international market, that too at a low 9.723% interest when compared to the lowest rate of 9.87% on loans from domestic market being availed by agencies with a rating higher than KIIFB, Isaac said.
KIIFB CEO K M Abraham had on Saturday said that the bond sale was through a transparent process. “It saw participation from a wide spectrum of investors like asset managers, insurance firms, pension funds and banks. The issue is dual listed on the London and Singapore stock exchanges,” he said.
“Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala is trying to build a smokescreen around KIIFB masala bond by unnecessarily dragging in SNC-Lavalin. It’s the CDPQ, a Canadian public sector company, which has invested in our masala bond and not SNC-Lavalin,” Isaac said in a Facebook post.
But Chennithala thinks that Congress party could try a failed experiment once again and make electoral gains, he added.
Citing an “interesting continuity” for the opposition leader’s reservations on KIIFB, Isaac said the former had termed the concept “a fantasy” when KIIFB projects were announced in the assembly. “When the projects were nearing implementation, he began spreading doubts among bidders deliberately saying these were projects sans funds. Finally, on the very day KIIFB masala bonds entered the international market, he called it a fraud. The latest graft allegations are part of his agenda to annihilate KIIFB and the infrastructure development it promises for Kerala,” he said.
Pointing out that CDPQ has investments worth $220 billion across 75 countries, including $4.5 billion (Rs 31,500 crore) in India, Isaac said the Union government’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) was cooperating with CDPQ in various projects. “CDPQ has investments worth Rs 130 million in the securities of central government. Chennithala can ask Nandan Nilekani (Infosys co-founder and Congress leader) to get a clear figure on CDPQ investments in India,” he said.
It’s for the first time in the country that a state-level venture is mobilizing capital from international market, that too at a low 9.723% interest when compared to the lowest rate of 9.87% on loans from domestic market being availed by agencies with a rating higher than KIIFB, Isaac said.
KIIFB CEO K M Abraham had on Saturday said that the bond sale was through a transparent process. “It saw participation from a wide spectrum of investors like asset managers, insurance firms, pension funds and banks. The issue is dual listed on the London and Singapore stock exchanges,” he said.
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