Adani’s 500 MW wind power deal in the North should go ahead: Indian HC  

By: Staff Writer

February 02, Colombo (LNW): India’s billionaire business tycoon Gutam Adani’s 500 MW wind power deal in the island nation’s Northern Province should progress after a better negotiation process, Indian High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Santosh Jha said

It is a commercial venture by Adani. They would be the right people to answer the question,” Santosh Jha told reporters in Colombo at a meeting with senior journalists on Thursday (01).“It should progress,” he said when asked about the delays in the project.

Sri Lankan officials have said the Adani wind power project has been facing some delays as a Cabinet Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC) has been raising concerns over the project components.

The US $442 million project was given to the Indian firm as an unsolicited deal after it was changed to a government-to-government deal with Adani Green Energy was issued provisional approval for two wind projects of 286 MW in Sri Lanka’s northwestern Mannar and 234 MW in the Northern Pooneryn.

The government has already explored the offshore wind power potential in the country especially in the North and East expediting two mega wind power projects of 286 MW in Mannar and 234 MW in Pooneryn under taken by Adani Green Energy Ltd for an investment of over US$ 500 million.

Adani Company has requested the government to include their claim for carbon credit in their project contract under Sri Lanka Carbon Crediting Scheme (SLCCS) established for supporting local clean projects to benefit from climate finance for the Greenhouse Gas emission (GHG) reduction, official sources said.

It has also demanded a government guarantee for their investment in the two projects or to keep shares of another state owned business enterprise as a surety for their money dumped in those projects.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera disclosed that Adani Green Energy has been given approval to implement the projects in August last year and it has expressed commitment to complete the projects by December 2024.

A cabinet paper on the same projects, dated the 14th of August 2023 noted that it should be considered as a government-to-government arrangement.

This was the strategy adopted by the government to award the wind power projects in Mannar and Poonaryn, to Adani Green without calling for competitive bids and selecting the most beneficial deal, considering it as a government-to-government proposal.

As the cabinet had already considered all aspects of the agreement between the SL government and Adani Green Energy Ltd and “authorised all the parties to enter into the MoU and to proceed with the required future action,

 Sri Lanka’s cabinet has given greenlight to recruit a raft of technocrats to a committee that will assess the project.

However, sources who are privy of the ongoing negotiation have said the project approval is facing some delay in the negotiation process of the CANC.

The CANC has first raised concerns over pricing with the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had said the unit cost for wind power under the project was expensive under the project.

Later, CANC had raised concerns over a 15% risk assessment on the project, sources have said.