Conflict of interest: Organisers of seaplane spectacle signed ₹2000 crore contract with Centre

The company which organised the seaplane spectacle of PM Narendra Modi on the last day of election campaigning in Gujarat, has signed a ₹2000 crore contract with the Central government for ‘development of tourism’. Not only that, the American company from which this aircraft was arranged clearly says that the owners of the aircraft do not want to reveal their names. Besides, the aircraft which flew Modi from Ahmedabad and landed on Sabarmati came via Karachi. It is not clear if the aircraft was thoroughly checked or not.

These points make it clear that it is not only a case of conflict of interest but also could be a major breach of security.

Iconic Ekta Ventures Limited arranged for the seaplane for PM Modi’s flight. The company has signed up a ₹ 2000 crore project for the development of tourism with the Centre. Although the project is yet to get clearance due to environmental and security reasons but it is believed that the seaplane was made available to PM Modi so that the project could get clearance.

The promoter and managing director of the company, Himanshu Patel, told NH that the company has been working on the development of tourism, water sports and eco-adventure tourism in the hilly areas of Gujarat for the last four years.

Himanshu claims that the company feels fortunate that the Prime Minister himself showed interest in its project. He further adds, “Three years ago in 2014 we had a trial of the seaplane in Mumbai. In 2016, during the Atulya Bharat Programme, the company signed an MoU with the Central government in this regard.”

Interestingly, the company which has signed this huge contract with the Central government was established in September 2016 only and its authorised and paid up capital is only ₹1 lakh. Signing up a contract of ₹2000 crore with such a new and small company also raises eyebrows.

If reports are to be believed, then under this project, Iconic Ekta Ventures Limited has to develop the Djaroi Dam in Gujarat as a centre of international tourism. The company claims that the Dharoi dam is connected to many other places of tourist attraction. Therefore there are immense possibilities of development of tourism here. The tourists will have to spend ₹ 2500 to take a seaplane flight from Ahmedabad to Dharoi.

Dharoi is the same Dam where PM Modi’s seaplane had landed. The word is that this decision of landing at the same site was also influenced by the company.

The opposition claims that this case of conflict of interest is a serious one. Iconic Ekta Ventures Limited of Ahmedabad has not only signed MoU with the Central government, it has also signed contracts with the Gujarat government during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. Although detailed information in this regard is yet to be received, there are reports in the media that PM Modi’s seaplane ride must have cost the BJP $70,000 or ₹42 lakh.

When enquired, it was revealed that the seaplane is registered in America in the name of Bank of Utah as a trustee. Its registered address is somewhere in Salt Lake City, Utah. Before this, the aircraft was registered in the name of Quest Aircraft company LLC. But in August 2016, its ownership was taken over by Bank of Utah. According to the website of Bank of Utah rules and regulations of taking the aircraft on lease, this trust manages those aircraft whose owners do not want to reveal their identity.

Now the question is whether this aircraft is owned by a shell company. If this be so, then why did PM Modi ride on a plane whose ownership has not been revealed? If the Ahmedabad businessman Himanshu Patel claims that this aircraft was arranged by him, then is the aircraft owned by him? But he did not hint at it at all during his conversation with NH.

A twitter handle has raised some questions regarding PM Modi’s seaplane ride, which is apparently a twitter handle run by the fans and supporters of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The Twitter handle says,

In another tweet, the same twitter handle says that this seaplane which flew Modi from Ahmedabad to Sabarmati came to India from the US via Karachi. This plane arrived in Karachi on December 3 one week before PM Modi’s roadshow was cancelled in Ahmedabad. One American company has been mentioned as the owner of the seaplane. But no Indian company has been mentioned as its partner. The same tweet has shown some pictures highlighting the plane’s flight path and other valid information.

That means the BJP had applied for Modi’s roadshow two days before Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Ahmedabad on the last day of the election campaign just to get it cancelled, while it was already decided that Modi wanted a spectacle of the seaplane ride and not the roadshow.

The Congress claims that Modi’s seaplane extravaganza is a strong example of conflict of interest. On one hand, he brags about ‘naa khaunga, naa khaane doonga (will not be involved in corruption, not let anyone else do it). On the other, during an election campaign, he flies a seaplane arranged for by a company which has signed a Rs-2000-crore MoU with his government at the Centre.

The Gujarat Pradesh Congress president Bharat Solanki said, “Gujarat’s people want that their future should be discussed. What has the Modi government done for them? That should be debated upon, and not a seaplane which Modi is showing them.”

Former Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhwadia said, “PM Modi’s seaplane show is just a gimmick to divert attention from real issues. What has his government done for the people of Gujarat in last 22 years? He should have focussed on that.

Political analysts believe that Modi’s seaplane show has also put a question mark on the dignity of the Prime Minister’s post and protocol. It is a major security breach for the Prime Minister to fly a single engine aircraft, and the claims of his supporters that the seaplane was used in the country for the first time is absolutely wrong.

In 2010 Seaplanes were launched in India by the then UPA government with the name of JalHans. Former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel gave this information in a tweet:

In the same way, the Kerala government had planned to introduce seaplane service in 2013, but it had to be shelved due to protests from the fishing community.

Former Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy also tweeted:

Altnews has claimed that Spicejet had tested seaplane in Girgaun Choupati, Mumbai on December 9. During the test, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ashok Gajpati Raju were also present. Spicejet is working on a plan to introduce about 100 seaplanes to encourage regional transport.

According to an estimate, India has a waterway of about 14500 kilometres where seaplanes can be used as a means of transport.