Andhra Pradesh to Review Adani Power Deal Amid US Court Indictment

Andhra Pradesh government is reexamining its power supply contract with the Adani Group. The move by the government is followed by the accusations against the Adani Group chairman, Gautam Adani, by the US prosecutors, where the billionaire is charged with bribing Indian officials of five states, including Andhra Pradesh. The state finance minister, Payyavula Keshav, told Reuters that the government is “digging into all the internal files” from the previous government. 

“We will also examine what can be done next, like is there a possibility to cancel the contract... state government is looking into this issue closely,” the minister told Reuters on Monday. 

The contracts under review were signed during the term of the former Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government. In fact, the US court’s order mentioned five states involved in the bribery scheme and the alleged Andhra Pradesh state official was paid nearly Rs 1,750 crore out of Rs 2,029 crore. It noted that Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies signed a power supply agreement to purchase “approximately seven gigawatts of solar power- by far the largest amount of any Indian state or region”. 

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The YSRCP party refuted the allegations and said the party had no direct agreement with the Adani Group’s renewable company, Adani Green Energy. The party issued a statement on Thursday, where it mentioned that the power procurement of 7,000 MW was approved by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission in November 2021. Consequently, a power sale agreement (PSA) was signed between the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and AP Discoms. 

“It is necessary to mention that SECI is a government of India enterprise. There is no direct agreement between AP DISCOMs and any other entities including those belonging to the Adani group. Therefore, the allegations made on the state government in the light of the indictment are incorrect,” the YSRCP said. 

However, the then government has come under scrutiny from its regional rivals. Last week after the US indictment order came out, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president and younger sister of former AP chief minister said, “handed over Andhra Pradesh to Gautam Adani like a blank cheque.” She added in her letter that an inquiry by the CBI or a sitting judge should be ordered immediately against him.