Gautam Adani bribery case: Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP says no direct agreement involved on power purchase charges

Gautam Adani bribery case: YSR Congress party says its Andhra Pradesh government has no direct agreement with Adani group. The party said the power sales agreement was signed between Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and AP Discoms when it came to power in 2021.

The reaction from the party led by former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy came in response to the Adani Group being indicted by the US Department of Justice for allegedly paying bribes for Andhra Pradesh solar power contracts during the YSRCP regime.

In a statement, the company said that the power procurement of 7,000 MW was approved by the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission in November 2021, followed by the signing of a power sales agreement (PSA) between SECI and AP Discoms on December 1, 2021.

Adani and seven others, including his nephew Sagar, are accused by the U.S. Justice Department of bribing unidentified state government officials in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than $2 billion profits for 20 years.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Adani met in person with government officials in 2021 and 2022 and paid them bribes in order to sign power sales agreements with SECI. At the time of the discussion, the YSR Congress was in power in Andhra Pradesh.

“It is pertinent to mention that SECI is a Government of India enterprise. There is no direct agreement between AP DISCOM and any other entity, including those belonging to the Adani Group. Therefore, the charges leveled against the state government under the charge sheet are incorrect,” YSRCP said in a statement.

The power purchase agreement with SECI was also said to have received approval from the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Deal with Jagan government?

The previous Andhra Pradesh government entered into an arrangement to procure 7,000 MW of power from SECI $2.49 per kWh over 25 years, 3,000 MW from FY 2024-25, 3,000 MW from FY 2025-26 and 1,000 MW from FY 2026-27, and exempt from ISTS (state international transmission system) costs. in a statement.

There are no direct agreements between AP DISCOM and any other entities, including those belonging to the Adani Group.

Purchasing electricity at such a cheap price will greatly benefit the country and save $3,700 crore per annum and since the agreement is for a period of 25 years, the total benefit to the country from the agreement will be huge, the statement added.