Union govt relaxed security rules for Adani plant near Pak border: report

In an exclusive report published on Wednesday 12 February, the UK's Guardian newspaper has claimed that the Union government "relaxed national security protocols along the Pakistan border to make way for a renewable energy park", alluding to the Khavda plant, supposedly the world's largest renewable energy project.

The project, handed to the Gautam Adani-led Adani Group after reportedly first going to the Solar Energy Corporation of India, is also linked to the charges levelled against the conglomerate in November 2024 by the US administration, accusing Adani of fraud for his alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar bribery incident associated with renewable power from the Khavda complex.

Adani himself, as well as the Adani Group, have denied the US accusations, but the Guardian report states that national security concerns have now been raised over the Khavda project, and claims that the Guardian had access to "private communications and confidential government minutes" which show that the "defence ministry amended security protocols to make territory on the India-Pakistan border commercially viable".

The rules as they existed reportedly did not allow any major construction beyond areas up to 10 km from the Pakistan border, but documents show that the BJP-led Gujarat government "lobbied at the highest levels for the protocols to be relaxed to make land in the Rann of Kutch available for both solar and wind construction", the Guardian report states.

The report surfaced a day before Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), the renewable arm of Adani's conglomerate, withdrew from two proposed wind power projects in Sri Lanka, following the island nation's new government deciding to renegotiate tariffs.

"Adani Green Energy has conveyed its Board's decision to respectfully withdraw from further engagement in the renewable energy (RE) wind energy project and two transmission projects in Sri Lanka," the firm said in a statement on Thursday.

The company was to invest a total of USD 1 billion in generating electricity from wind at two projects and laying transmitting lines to take it to users. The plan came under the scrutiny of the newly elected administration under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who wanted to reduce electricity costs.

"However, we remain committed to Sri Lanka and are open to future collaboration if the government of Sri Lanka so desires" AGEL said. The Adani Group continues to be invested in a USD 700 million terminal project at Sri Lanka's largest port in Colombo.

AGEL was originally supposed to develop two wind farms with a total capacity of 484 MW in Sri Lanka's Mannar and Pooneryn regions, with an investment of USD 740 million.

The project, slated for completion by mid-2026, had a rough start with opposition from environmental groups and legal challenges in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court over ecological concerns.

In May last year, Sri Lanka's previous government agreed to purchase power from the proposed Adani wind plant at USD 0.0826 per kilowatt-hour. The new government began investigating the contract following an indictment against Adani Group founder-chairman Gautam Adani and his key associates in a US court for allegedly paying bribes to Indian officials to secure contracts to supply renewable energy in the country.

In January, the new administration revoked Adani's power purchase and began investigations. Thereafter it opted to review and renegotiate the terms to bring the cost below USD 0.06 per unit. Unable to meet the demand, the Adani Group has withdrawn from the project.

The group conveyed its decision to the Sri Lankan government on 12 February, saying it learnt that a cabinet-appointed negotiations committee and project committee would be constituted to renegotiate the project proposal.

The AGEL board deliberated on the issue and decided that while the company fully respects the sovereign rights of Sri Lanka and its choices, it would respectfully withdraw from the project.

With PTI inputs