Govt. seeks reports on Adani projects amid US bribery allegations

Wednesday, 27 November 2024 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Government yesterday affirmed that it has requested detailed reports on the Adani Group’s projects in the country following allegations of bribery filed in the US.

Speaking to the media, Cabinet Spokesman and Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa confirmed the move, emphasising that the Government is taking the matter seriously.

“The Finance Ministry and Foreign Ministry were tasked with conducting inquiries into the allegations,” he said, responding to multiple queries posed at the post-Cabinet meeting media briefing yesterday.

Last week prosecutors in the US indicted Gautam Adani over his alleged lead role in a bribery scheme linked to a mega-sized solar power plant. In a statement, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Adani and seven of his associates, including his nephew Sagar Adani, promised Indian officials more than $ 250 million in bribes to secure energy contracts being funded by international investors, including some from the US. Soon after the US indictments against Gautam Adani, Kenya cancelled Adani group projects in that country. Other countries are bound to follow.

Responding to the legal challenge in the US, the Adani Group denied the allegations and called the indictment a “baseless move”.

Adani currently has multiple ventures in Sri Lanka, including a wind power project, a transmission line and a port terminal venture with John Keells Holdings and Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

“We are taking the matter very seriously. The Government would consider all aspects of the Group’s projects in the country, most of them which were approved during the previous regimes,” he said, adding that the Government will first assess the reports from the two Ministries.

“We are still evaluating the matter. We have not yet made a decision,” Dr. Jayatissa said.

Despite many attempts by the journalists to find out the timeline for the expected reports, the Cabinet Spokesman declined to say how long it would take to assess the Ministerial reports.