BHUBANESWAR: Breaking its silence on the US department of Justice’s indictment of the Adani group on bribing government officials of Odisha and several other states to secure solar energy contracts, the BJD, which was in power in the state during the period, dismissed the charges as ‘baseless and incorrect’.
Former Energy minister and Opposition chief whip in the Assembly Pratap Keshari Deb said the power purchase agreement made in 2021 was between two government agencies - the Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), a central public sector undertaking (PSU), and Gridco, a state PSU - for the purpose of supply of renewable energy under the manufacturing-linked solar scheme of the Centre.
Deb said the agreement was to procure 500 MW of renewable energy from SECI at the lowest rates and was between two government entities.
“There was no engagement of any private party whatsoever including the Adani Group,” he said.
“In fact to fulfil the renewable energy commitments, the state has been procuring renewable energy from central government PSUs like SECI and NTPC from 2011 onwards. Hence, these allegations in respect of Odisha are baseless and incorrect,” he added. The former minister said, Odisha has privatised the power distribution sector while other states are doing the job directly.
“All the agreements on power get the approval of OERC (Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission), an autonomous body. The Gridco is also semi-autonomous. Therefore, the state government has no direct role in the agreements. Neither the Energy minister nor the secretary is involved in all such agreements,” he added.
Meanwhile, former Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena demanded investigation by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe Adani’s activities and Centre’s complicity in the matter.
Alleging that Odisha’s natural resources have been sold to the Adani Group, Jena said the Talabira II and III coal blocks in Sambalpur and Jharsuguda districts spanning 1,914 hectares have displaced communities while degrading the environment.
He alleged that Adani controls significant reserves including Kutrumali bauxite mines and iron ore mines in Keonjhar and Bhadrak. He also controls Dhamra Port and 95 per cent of Gopalpur Port, establishing a near monopoly, Jena added.
Former Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja demanded that chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi should clarify purchase of land by Adani in Balangir district close to the Gandhamardhan hills.