Investigate Adani projects in SL

Monday, 25 November 2024 01:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

In June 2022, M.M.C. Ferdinando, then Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), claimed before Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that he was told by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa about Prime Minister Narendra Modi pressuring him to give a wind power project directly to the Adani Group. It is reported that the Indian company won contracts to develop two power projects in Poornaryn and Mannar with a capacity over 500 megawatts through unsolicited proposals in December last year. Rajapaksa emphatically denied the allegation and the CEB Chairman was forced to resign.

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

The allegations and indictment in the US sounds very familiar to the similar allegations made in Sri Lanka. CEB’s Former Chairman Ferdinando was no amateur bureaucrat to have babbled some nonsense at the COPE. He was a Secretary to the Ministry of Power and Energy before being appointed as the Chairman of CEB and is well versed in the proceedings and seriousness of Parliament. Despite the hasty withdrawal of the statement to COPE in June 2022 the past or present administrations didn’t see the necessity to investigate this claim. Even in the very least the agreement reached between the Adani Group and the Ministry of Finance for the power projects was not made public. The Ministry of Finance also never explained to the public the circumstances and the reasons for it to have entertained an unsolicited proposal.

At the outset international investments are critical for a country like Sri Lanka to develop. The State sector monopoly, the CEB has done a great disservice to its consumers, who have to bear the costs of high energy prices and as taxpayers have to also bear the losses of the utility. In this regard bringing in private sector investments into the energy sector should be welcomed. Even the right thing however can be done the wrong way. The manner in which the Adani Group was granted the power projects through an unsolicited proposal is undoubtedly the wrong way.

Sri Lanka has been discussing the Swiss Challenge method for procurement and awarding of projects on unsolicited proposals. In this ‘best practice’ when an unsolicited proposal is received third parties are invited to match or surpass the unsolicited bid for a project while giving a degree of priority to the initial entity. This offers a degree of transparency and reduces the possibility of corrupt deals being made behind closed doors.

Soon after the US indictments against Gautam Adani, Kenya cancelled Adani group projects in that country. Other countries are bound to follow. Sri Lanka must at the very least thoroughly investigate the projects initiated by Adani and other similar unsolicited projects by foreign countries. Credibility must be restored on such investments.