Andhra Pradesh Considers Scrapping Adani Power Deal
The state of Andhra Pradesh is reviewing government files and will explore whether it is possible to cancel a power supply contract linked to the Adani Group, whose billionaire founder has been indicted in the United States, a top official said.
U.S. authorities have charged Gautam Adani and seven others for agreeing to pay bribes of $265 million to unnamed Indian government officials to obtain solar power-supply contracts in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir between 2021 and 2022.
The U.S. indictment said most of the alleged bribes - $228 million - were paid to a government official to get Andhra Pradesh's state electricity distribution companies to agree to purchase power. Adani has said the allegations are baseless.
Andhra Pradesh's state government was 'digging into all the internal files' from the previous administration, under which the alleged misconduct took place, state Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav told.
"We will also look at what can be done next, like is there a possibility to cancel the contract. state government is looking into this issue closely", Keshav said.
A spokesperson for the Adani Group didn't immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
The previous Andhra Pradesh ruling party, YSR Congress Party, last week denied any wrongdoing.
According to the U.S. indictment document, after Andhra Pradesh electricity distribution companies paid alleged bribes to Indian officials, they signed a power purchase agreement to buy "approximately seven gigawatts of solar power - by far the largest amount of any Indian state or region".
This is the biggest blow to billionaire Adani, whose company shares and bonds have plummeted since he was indicted.
Adani Green has a 20 percent share in the French oil major TotalEnergies, which suspended further investment into the Adani Group.
