Chennai, DHNS: Adani Green Energy Limited has told the Sri Lankan government that it would withdraw from two proposed wind power projects in the north and southern parts of the island nation, amid protests from locals and a legal battle over their approval by the Gotabhaya Rajapaksa government in 2022.
In a letter sent to Arjuna Herath, Chairman, Board of Investment, Sri Lanka, the Ahmedabad-headquartered company headed by industrialist Gautam Adani said the decision to pull out of the ambitious project that would have seen investments of about $1 billion was taken after Sri Lanka decided to appoint two fresh committees to renegotiate the project proposal.
“This aspect was deliberated at the Board of our company and it was decided that while the company fully respects the sovereign rights of Sri Lanka and it’s choices, it would respectfully withdraw from the said project,” Pragnesh Darji, Company Secretary, Adani Green, said in the letter dated February 12.
The decision comes as yet another setback for the Adani Group which is already in the eye of a storm over allegations that it bribed government officials in India following which electricity distribution firms from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu and Kashmir entered into pacts with SECI for purchase of solar power from it.
It is believed that the then government had awarded the power project in Mannar, who is geographically close to Tamil Nadu, to Adani keeping in mind India’s security and strategic interests. However, the project has been hanging in fate ever since the Left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as Sri Lanka’s president in September 2024.
Scrapping the Adani power project was one of the key poll promises of Dissanayake, who rode to power on an anti-corruption plank. The project also faced protests from fishermen in Mannar who believed that it would affect their livelihood.
The company said it was under protracted discussions with CEB and various government departments of Sri Lanka for the past two years and that these projects were envisaged to collectively see investments of about USD 1 billion in Sri Lanka, based on build own operate concept.
“In pursuit of said proposal, Adani Green teams had several rounds of
discussions with state appointed committees and after more than 14 rounds of discussions, approval was accorded on Tariff, fixed for 20 years, for the Power Purchase Agreement. Adani Green also worked on all clearances and licenses,” the company added.
With the exception of Mannar Environmental approval and an associated
Supreme Court case, the company had procured almost all clearances, besides working on lands for the project, as well as associated transmission
system. The company had spent about $5 Million on the pre-development activities.
The statement added that the company learnt that another Cabinet appointed negotiations committee (CANC) and Project Committee (PC) would be constituted to renegotiate the project proposal, which led Adani Green to withdraw from it.
- https://www.deccanherald.com/world/adani-group-pulls-out-of-power-projects-in-sri-lanka-3403865
In a letter sent to Arjuna Herath, Chairman, Board of Investment, Sri Lanka, the Ahmedabad-headquartered company headed by industrialist Gautam Adani said the decision to pull out of the ambitious project that would have seen investments of about $1 billion was taken after Sri Lanka decided to appoint two fresh committees to renegotiate the project proposal.
“This aspect was deliberated at the Board of our company and it was decided that while the company fully respects the sovereign rights of Sri Lanka and it’s choices, it would respectfully withdraw from the said project,” Pragnesh Darji, Company Secretary, Adani Green, said in the letter dated February 12.
The decision comes as yet another setback for the Adani Group which is already in the eye of a storm over allegations that it bribed government officials in India following which electricity distribution firms from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu and Kashmir entered into pacts with SECI for purchase of solar power from it.
It is believed that the then government had awarded the power project in Mannar, who is geographically close to Tamil Nadu, to Adani keeping in mind India’s security and strategic interests. However, the project has been hanging in fate ever since the Left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake was elected as Sri Lanka’s president in September 2024.
Scrapping the Adani power project was one of the key poll promises of Dissanayake, who rode to power on an anti-corruption plank. The project also faced protests from fishermen in Mannar who believed that it would affect their livelihood.
The company said it was under protracted discussions with CEB and various government departments of Sri Lanka for the past two years and that these projects were envisaged to collectively see investments of about USD 1 billion in Sri Lanka, based on build own operate concept.
“In pursuit of said proposal, Adani Green teams had several rounds of
discussions with state appointed committees and after more than 14 rounds of discussions, approval was accorded on Tariff, fixed for 20 years, for the Power Purchase Agreement. Adani Green also worked on all clearances and licenses,” the company added.
With the exception of Mannar Environmental approval and an associated
Supreme Court case, the company had procured almost all clearances, besides working on lands for the project, as well as associated transmission
system. The company had spent about $5 Million on the pre-development activities.
The statement added that the company learnt that another Cabinet appointed negotiations committee (CANC) and Project Committee (PC) would be constituted to renegotiate the project proposal, which led Adani Green to withdraw from it.
- https://www.deccanherald.com/world/adani-group-pulls-out-of-power-projects-in-sri-lanka-3403865
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