Israel s envoy to India Naor Gilon said on Wednesday that the embattled Adani Group had paid in full to acquire Haifa port.
On the occasion of the completion of the 30 years of diplomatic relations between Israel and India, the Israeli envoy emphasised the importance of Adani's investment as'strategic' and looked forward to more investments by the company in other sectors of Israel.
We have two ports in the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa is a strategic asset. Ambassador Gilon said that the fact that we are giving it to an Indian company is a sign of the deep trust in depositing your strategic assets in the hands of Indian companies.
The envoy said that when a US short seller complained about a stock market sell off for Adani Group companies, the accusations came at a time when that was the subject of a stock market sell-off.
Bread and butter of the Adani Group are ports. They have the potential to make Haifa port what it needs to be and to increase trade between India and Israel. He said that we are very happy with this.
In the last month, the Adani Group acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion and vowed to transform the skyline of the Mediterranean city as part of its decision to invest more in the Jewish nation, including opening an artificial intelligence lab in Tel Aviv.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, whose business empire was rocked by allegations of fraud by US short seller Hindenburg Research, appeared alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the signing of the deal to take over Haifa Port, and spoke about investment opportunities.
Prime Minister Netanyahu described the Haifa port deal with the Adani Group as an ''enormous milestone' as it will improve the connectivity between the two countries in many ways.
The port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships.
There is money for development and the Adani Group paid in full for the Haifa port. Adani Group knows what they do and that is the core business of the port infrastructure. It is a strategic asset and will be useful for India and Israel. He said that Adani Group are looking for more projects in Israel and I hope they succeed in getting it. We want our friends to be close by. We are very comfortable with India. After Prime Minister Modi visited Israel, defence contracts went to Adani, the envoy said: We have joint ventures with 80 Indian companies, including Tata, Bell, Kalyani. I don't see the issue here when talking about a company. Joint ventures are between private companies and are not pushed by Israel. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had claimed in parliament that Adani never made drones but HAL, other companies in India do that. PM Modi goes to Israel and Adani gets the contract. Adani Group has struck a number of critical partnerships with companies such as Israel Innovation Authority, Israel Weapon Systems, and Elbit Systems over the last six years.
Adani Ports Special Economic Zone Ltd in partnership with local chemicals and logistics group Gadot won the Israeli government's tender to buy Haifa Port, a major trade hub on Israel's Mediterranean coast, for $1.2 billion.
The acquisition of the Haifa port also comes with a lot of real estate. Adani said that we will transform the skyline we see around us in the years to come.
Adani said that India-Israeli friendship dates back to September 23, 1918, when soldiers from the Indian cities of Mysore, Hyderabad and Jodhpur fought for the freedom of Haifa in Israel.