Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the state government cannot scrap power purchase agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) without obtaining solid proof of bribery allegations.
The Chief Minister’s comments assume significance in the backdrop of Adani being indicted by the US Department of Justice over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribes to Indian officials in exchange for favourable solar power contracts, including from Andhra Pradesh.
This allegation was refuted by the Indian conglomerate. These PPAs were the center of alleged bribery charges against billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani and others, as indicted by a US court in November.
“We can’t back out of contracts unless concrete proof is available. We will have to pay a stiff penalty. No action can be taken until concrete proof is obtained. We need more proof. We are awaiting the outcome of the case in the USA. Concrete action will be taken if proof is obtained,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu told reporters.
Naidu’s response follows a thorough digging into the files pertaining to the SECI deal that the YSRCP government signed. Initially, the Naidu government had ‘in principle’ decided to scrap the SECI deal and begin working on the modalities.
However, the examination of the agreements has led the government to adopt a wait-and-watch mode. One of the main hindrances was in the form of a penalty of approximately Rs 2,100 crore, equivalent to six months’ payment under the PPA.
Naidu is also forced to let go of a ‘golden opportunity’ to take action against his political rival, YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. “If I had to take action against Jagan on the SECI issue, this is a ‘laddu’ opportunity. It’s a question of the credibility of the state government. I don’t indulge in vendetta politics. This is the difference between TDP and YSRCP,” said Naidu.
In December 2021, the Andhra Pradesh discoms, under the then YSRCP government, entered into a Power Sale Agreement (PSA) with SECI to purchase approximately 7000 MW of solar power, making it the largest such agreement among other states. TThe US court filings in November had shown that Gautam Adani had met a ‘high-ranking’ official of the Andhra Pradesh government and offered a bribe of Rs 1,750 crore for facilitating the discoms to purchase SECI power.
Notably, Gautam Adani met the then chief minister YS Jagann Mohan Reddy at the latter’s residence in Tadepalli on October 14, 2021. After the meeting in the following months, the state discoms signed Power Sale Agreements (PSAs) and Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with SECI.
However, YSRCP strongly denied any wrongdoing and argued that the discoms had signed agreements with a government of India enterprise that had offered the lowest price per unit of solar power.
