Sword hanging over Adani’s Rs 3700 crore project, Sri Lanka said – will think again for approval
Sword seems to be hanging over a project of Gautam Adani to be started in Sri Lanka. This project of 440 million dollars (about Rs 3700 crore) is related to wind power. The new administration of Sri Lanka has said that it will think again about this project and then take a decision. Earlier, the interim government of Bangladesh has also given a blow to the Adani Group.
Recently Anura Kumara Disanayake has become the new President of Sri Lanka. The government led by him has indicated that it will make changes in this project of Adani. Let us tell you that the previous Sri Lankan government had given the green signal to this project. But the new government has currently shown it a red signal. In such a situation, this project of Adani seems to be in danger. This project is to be completed by Adani Green Energy
Information given to the Supreme Court
On Monday, the Attorney General’s Office of Sri Lanka informed the Supreme Court that the new administration will reconsider the approval given by the previous government. Our colleague Economic Times has told about this quoting PTI. The new cabinet held a meeting on October 7. In this meeting, a decision was taken about this reconsideration. At this time when Adani is expanding his business in the world, Sri Lanka’s new decision can pose an obstacle for Adani.
Why did the Sri Lankan government take this decision?
According to Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Vijayita Herath, this project had to face problems regarding its price structure. Speaking to the media after the cabinet meeting, Herath said that there is some problem with the electricity fee approved by the previous government for this project. It is high and should be reduced. He said that the government will reconsider this project after the parliamentary elections to be held on November 14.
Adani’s deal was called a threat
Disanayake had pledged to protect Sri Lanka’s energy sovereignty during the presidential election last month. He had described the Adani deal as a potential threat. He had said that the terms of the deal should be renegotiated. He also said that he would get this project cancelled. After winning the election, he seems to be moving towards fulfilling his promise.
What is this agreement with Sri Lanka?
The Adani Group had committed to invest more than $440 million in the development of 484 megawatts of wind power in the northeastern regions of Mannar and Poonari under a 20-year agreement. However, the project has faced legal challenges. Petitioners have raised concerns about environmental impacts and transparency in the bidding process.