Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Even as the YSR Congress Party denied the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of having any role in the alleged Adani Group bribery scam as was alleged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the incumbent chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday promised to look into the issue in detail and take appropriate action against the guilty.
The issue which was highlighted by the US SEC on Thursday naming Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and others in the alleged Rs 1,750 crores scam, rocked the AP Assembly on the last day of its current session on Friday with the ruling party members demanding stringent disciplinary action against the ousted chief minister allegedly for bringing disgrace to the state.
Even his sister YS Sharmila, now the state Congress president, lambasted her brother stating that his corruption had reached the “global level bringing shame to the YSR family and the State.” She also demanded that all agreements made by the former Chief Minister with the Adani Group should be investigated and the latter should be blacklisted in Andhra Pradesh.
Reacting to the demands from the members of his ruling Telegu Desam Party and its alliance partner BJP in the state Assembly, Mr Naidu the State’s reputation had been damaged and it was painful to have brand AP suffer a dent on the global stage.
He said the government was looking into the issue and would do the needful after duly studying it while insisting that governments should be accountable to the people and such incidents (of bribery) would not repeat only when necessary action was taken against. The CM further said he would look into the charge-sheet filed by the federal prosecutors in New York against Gautam Adani and others and get back with what the government was supposed to do.
Surprisingly, even though the Adani group was known to be close to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP members in the AP Assembly were more forthright in slamming the conglomerate while attacking the former chief minister. The BJP MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy became a ‘global leader in scams’ and recalled how the YSR Congress Party Government had sold its 10.40% share in the Gangavaram port to Adani Group for just ₹651 crore against its real value of at least ₹1500 crore.
TDP MLAs Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary, Kalava Srinivasulu and Vasantha Krishna Prasad said it was sad that AP has a CM like Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and an inquiry should be ordered. BJP’s C. Adinarayana Reddy demanded that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy should be summoned to seek answers.
Slamming her brother, Ms Sharmila alleged that Jagan Mohan Reddy “handed over Andhra Pradesh to Adani Group like a blank cheque.” “He has turned Andhra Pradesh into Adani Pradesh,” she said, addressing a press conference in Hyderabad. She accused Mr Jagan of pledging the interests of the people of Andhra Pradesh for a bribe of ₹1,750 crore. “Mr Jagan’s corruption has reached global level, bringing shame to the YSR family and the State,” she said.
She said the fact that it took the US to expose the ‘shady deals’ between Mr Jagan and Mr Adani spoke volumes about the ‘lackadaisical’ functioning of the government departments in the State. “Corruption in our country is now being discussed internationally and this is an insult to our nation.”
She also alleged foul play in Gangavaram Port deal and said pressure was exerted to hand over the Krishnapatnam Port to the Adani Group. The coal supply contracts for the entire State were given to Mr Adani and so were beach sand mining contracts, she added. Ms Sharmila urged the TDP-led coalition government in the State to review the agreements made by Mr Jagan and also appealed to the Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to reconsider his government’s stand on business with Mr Adani.
Mr Reddy’s party in support of the former chief minister issued a clarification following the allegations levelled by the US SEC and denied any irregularities and reiterated that the deal would benefit the State. There was no direct agreement between A.P.’s power distribution companies (discoms) and any Adani group firm.
It said the State government had received an offer from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Central government-owned enterprise functioning under the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, to supply 7,000 MW of power at the lowest discovered tariff. The AP government had then entered into an arrangement to procure 7,000 MW of power from SECI at ₹2.49 per kWh for a 25-year period — with 3,000 MW commencing in this financial year 2024-25, another 3,000 MW commencing in 2025-26, and 1,000 MW commencing in 2026-27 — along with a waiver of the inter-State transmission system (ISTS) charges.
“It is worth mentioning that the power procurement of 7,000 MW was approved by Hon’ble APERC [Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission] vide its order dated 11-Nov-2021. After the APERC approval was obtained, the Power Sale Agreement (PSA) was signed on 1-Dec-2021 between SECI and AP Discoms.” the statement mentioned.
“This was after the [Central Electricity Regulatory Commission] CERC approval as well. 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 [against] the State Government, in the light of the indictment, are incorrect,” the statement added.
The YSR Congress also noted that there was an express stipulation in the Union Power Ministry’s order, to the effect that the ISTS charges shall be waived for 25 years with respect to projects selected under CECI’s 2019 tender (issued by RfS No. SECI/C&P/RfS/2GWMANUFACTURING/P-3/R1/062019 dated 25.06.2019). Therefore, the project does not entail any burden on account of ISTS charges, the YSR Congress said.
Owing to these reasons, the project is extremely favourable with respect to the interests of the State and procurement of power at such cheap rate would substantially benefit the State with a saving of ₹3,700 crore per annum. As the agreement is for a period of 25 years, the total benefit to the State on account of this agreement would be immense, the YSR Congress emphasised.
The former ruling party of Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of the former chief minister Navin Patnaik, also refuted the allegations that Odisha government officials took bribes for a power purchase agreement in 2021, when it was in power in the state. The BJD, like the YSRCP, also said the deal was between two government entities and no private parties, including the Adani Group, were involved.
“This power purchase agreement made in 2021 was between two government agencies – a central government public sector undertaking (PSU) which is a mini navratna of the Government of India Solar Energy Corporation of India (under the Union Ministry of Renewable Energy) and a state govt PSU Gridco – solely for the purpose of supply of renewable energy. This is part of a central government scheme called the manufacturing linked solar scheme,” Pratap Keshari Deb, Odisha’s former energy minister and the deputy chief whip of the BJD in the state Assembly, said in a statement.
Mr Deb said the agreement was to procure 500 MW of renewable energy from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) at the lowest rates discovered by the PSU. “There was no engagement with any private party whatsoever, including the Adani Group,” he said. Highlighting that the state has been procuring renewable energy from central government PSUs like SECI and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) since 2011, the party said the allegations were “baseless and incorrect.”
The Adani Group has firmly denied the US government department report alleging bribery for power contracts. “All possible legal recourse will be sought. The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws,” the Group said in a statement.