U'khand changed 84 tender rules to suit Adani in Rs 1.6 lakh cr deal: Cong

The Congress on Thursday alleged that the BJP government in Uttarakhand changed 84 tender rules to favour the Adani Group in a 1,320-MW power procurement deal that, it claimed, could cost the state's consumers nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore over 25 years.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera alleged that the state government first scrapped a public-sector power project and then altered the rules of a fresh tender "until it fitted" Adani Power.

"This is a textbook case of a state government first killing its own public-sector project and then rewriting every single rule of a competitive tender until it fits," Khera said.

The original project was to be developed by a joint venture of UJVN Ltd and THDC India Ltd to add power-generation capacity in Uttarakhand. Khera alleged that it was abandoned within months of the joint venture's formation, at a time when Adani Power was acquiring Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd in Chhattisgarh through insolvency proceedings.

The acquisition, he said, included an under-construction 1,320-MW expansion at Korba. A fresh 1,320-MW tender was subsequently floated by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL), Khera said, alleging that successive changes to its conditions ultimately enabled Adani Power to emerge as the successful bidder. "This is crony capitalism dressed up as competitive bidding," he said.

The Congress cited a 2024 decision under which chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had informed the Union coal and mines minister that the proposed thermal power project in Uttarakhand would be developed through a UJVN-THDC joint venture, rather than by a private developer.

The proposal was approved in principle by the Union government in July 2024, the Congress said.

But on 16 January 2025, the state government abandoned the project, citing concerns over the timeline. Khera questioned the decision, noting that the UJVN-THDC joint venture had been incorporated less than a year earlier and had drawn up a roadmap to double Uttarakhand's power capacity within eight years.

At the same time, Adani Power acquired Lanco Amarkantak Power Ltd on 21 August 2024 through insolvency proceedings.

The transaction included the 1,320-MW expansion at Korba, Khera said.

UPCL floated its 1,320-MW tender on 3 February 2025. Khera alleged that on the same day, Adani Power filed its application for environmental clearance for the Korba expansion.

He also alleged that the state government subsequently changed the tender conditions to require the entire 1,320 MW to be supplied by a single bidder and allowed the generating plant to be located "anywhere in India", instead of requiring it to be located in Uttarakhand.

On 25 August 2026, the Uttarakhand Cabinet approved the procurement of 1,320 MW of coal-based power from Adani Power for 25 years at Rs 5.746 per unit.

The power is to be supplied from a plant in Chhattisgarh. The government has said Adani Power emerged as the lowest bidder and that the procurement was intended to ensure reliable long-term power supply. The Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission approved the procurement of 1,320 MW in July 2026.

Khera questioned the decision to abandon the UJVN-THDC project and subsequently procure the same quantum of power through a tender that, he alleged, underwent repeated changes. "Why did the BJP government kill its own UJVN-THDC project only to create a 1,320-MW opportunity that perfectly fits Adani's Korba plant?" he asked.

"Why were 84 tender conditions rewritten? Was the tender designed for competition, or designed for Adani? And why should the people of Uttarakhand pay nearly Rs 1.6 lakh crore over 25 years for a project whose tender conditions were repeatedly changed to fit one corporate group?" Khera said.