Rights group demands cancellation of all agreements between A.P. govt and Adani group

In light of criminal indictment of Gautam Adani and other executives of Adani Green Energy by Federal US prosecutors in New York, USA, the Human Rights Forum (HRF) demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government immediately cancel the relevant agreements gone into with Adani group and launch a comprehensive and credible investigation into the matter.

Addressing a section of the media, here on Friday (November 22, 2024), HRF members pointed out that the allegations amount to a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme and include serious corruption and governance concerns.

Also read: India-U.S. ties have strong foundation: White House confident in navigating crisis over Adani bribery charges

As has now been revealed, the Attorney of the Eastern District of New York indicted Gautam Adani and various officials belonging to Adani Green Energy Power, its affiliate Azure Power and a Canadian institutional investment firm. The indictment, following investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was filed on October 24, 2024, and made public on November 20, 2024.

The indictment alleges that government officials in Andha Pradesh were bribed by Adani Green to the tune of 228 million dollars to facilitate a power supply agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The indictment states that Gautam Adani met with a ‘foreign official’ in Andhra Pradesh during 2021 (can be inferred as former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy) to ‘advance the execution of a PSA between SECI and Andhra Pradesh’s state electricity distribution companies…’.

Opposition parties at the time demanded that the State government disclose details of this secret meeting. Functionaries of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had approached the AP High Court against the Rs. 2.49/kWh tariff price and supply of 7000 MW of solar power by Adani through SECI, said V.S. Krishna, HRF AP & TS co-ordination committee member.

It would also be pertinent to recall that Adani Green Energy Ltd. was also permitted to set up Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) in Kurukutti, Karrivalasa and Pedakota of Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) and Parvathipuram-Manyam districts of AP. These projects were granted during the YSRCP government in open contempt of the law and various Constitutional provisions applicable in the 5th Schedule region, pointed Y. Rajesh, HRF State general secretary and G. Rohith, HRF State secretary.