After former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel claimed that his authorities was not concerned in any dealings with industrialist Gautam Adani within the state amid an argument over the US’s indictment of the billionaire, India In the present day TV accessed an official doc that instructed in any other case.
The doc, shared by authorities sources, includes an influence deal involving the Photo voltaic Vitality Company of India Restricted (SECI), which awarded tenders to the Adani Group and Azure Energy in 2020 to provide 12 gigawatts of solar-generated electrical energy at a specified worth. Nonetheless, SECI could not discover patrons to buy solar energy as a result of excessive costs.
The facility deal between SECI and Chhattisgarh State Energy Distribution Firm Ltd, which is owned by the Chhattisgarh authorities, was signed on August 12, 2021, in Raipur, when Baghel’s Congress authorities was in energy, the doc revealed. Notably, Congress dominated the state from 2018 to 2023.
Earlier at the moment, Baghel and former state Energy Minister TS Singh Deo refuted claims of the Congress authorities of getting any dealings with Adani. Each known as for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the matter.
Baghel, who was additionally the facility minister in 2021, mentioned, “There must be a JPC probe into the Adani offers in Chhattisgarh. I welcome it and it must be made public”.
Deo, who was briefly the facility minister between July 2023 to December 2023, additionally mentioned, “I used to be neither the facility minister nor the Deputy Chief Minister in 2021. Additionally, it’s essential to say that we had nothing to do with Adani Greens because the PSA (Energy Sale Settlement) was signed with SECI”.
Chhattisgarh was among the many 4 states, and Jammu and Kashmir, whose names cropped up within the indictment doc after US prosecutors indicted Gautam Adani and 7 others for allegedly paying bribes to Indian authorities officers for securing solar energy contracts.
The prosecutors alleged that the Adani Group paid USD 265 million in bribes, with a big chunk directed at officers in Andhra Pradesh, to safe contracts with state electrical energy distribution corporations between 2021-2023.
The Adani Group strongly rejected the bribery allegations, calling them “baseless”. In a press release, the corporate mentioned it “by no means engaged in bribery or corrupt practices” and that it’ll “vigorously defend itself towards these unfounded claims”.
