New Delhi: The Adani Group has admitted that the Sri Lankan government is reviewing tariffs agreed upon under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed by the two entities, but said this was part of a “standard review process”.
The statement, shared with ThePrint in response to questions raised, follows reports by international news agencies—citing anonymous Sri Lankan government sources—that the government had cancelled power-purchase agreements with the Adani Group.
“Reports that Adani’s 484 MW wind power projects in Mannar and Pooneryn have been cancelled are false and misleading,” an Adani Group spokesperson said in the statement. “We categorically state that the project has not been cancelled.”
“The Sri Lankan Cabinet’s decision of 2 Jan 2025 to reevaluate the tariff approved in May 2024 is part of a standard review process, particularly with a new government, to ensure that the terms align with their current priorities and energy policies,” the statement added.
The company further said it remained committed to investing $1 billion in Sri Lanka’s green energy sector.
At the time, Sri Lankan Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera reportedly took to X to announce that the tariff under the agreement would be Rs 24.78 per kWh, as compared to the average cost of energy in Sri Lanka at that time of Rs 39.02 per kWh.
News reports said Friday that the country, under new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was reviewing the agreement in light of indictments last year of key Adani personnel by the US department of justice (DOJ) and its Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Adani Group statement, in essence, accepted the Sri Lankan government was reappraising tariffs agreed under the PPA, but underscored the “routine” nature of the process.
This would not be the first trouble the US indictments may have caused the company in Sri Lanka. Soon after the charges were made public in November 2024, the US government’s Development Finance Corporation (DFC) told ThePrint it was “actively assessing the ramifications” of the DOJ indictment.
The DFC in 2023 had announced $553 million in financing for a port terminal project in Colombo, which is partly owned by the Adani Group.
source : theprint