Adani power agreements struck during Jagan regime under scanner, two Andhra ministers say

Keshav, who as chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Public Accounts Committee had in 2021 first raised objections to the agreements, said his department is going through the files and PPAs made during the Jagan regime.

Nara Lokesh, the state’s Minister for Education, IT and Electronics, also said that “we are scrutinising the terms and conditions and purchase prices as per the PPAs”. He said they will have to take into consideration legal issues and any disruption to power supply that may arise in case the agreements are scrapped. “We have to check and evaluate everything before we take a call,” he said. He did not rule out the possibility of the agreements being scrapped.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, CM Naidu had said, “I have all the reports of the indictment filed in the US. We will study them and take action accordingly. We will inform what action we will take.” In response to some NDA members demanding action against Jagan, Naidu had said the allegations against the previous YSRCP government hurt the brand image of Andhra Pradesh. “It is sad. Our prestige has been hurt.”

According to the US court indictment, Adani “personally met with Foreign Official 1 in Andhra Pradesh to advance the execution of PSA (power supply agreements) between SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India) and AP’s state electricity distribution companies, including on or about August 7, 2021, on or about September 12, 2021 and on or about November 20, 2021”. The “Foreign Official 1”, according to the indictment, “had served as a high-ranking government official of Andhra Pradesh from May 2019 to June 2024”.

While the indictment does not name Foreign Officer 1, a filing by the Security Exchanges Commission filing does say that in August 2021, Adani “met personally with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh…” Between May 2019 and June 2024, Jagan was the chief minister.

The TDP had raised objections to the agreements when they were in the opposition too. On November 5, 2021, speaking outside the AP Assembly at Amaravati, Keshav had asked why the Jagan government decided to purchase 7,000 MW of power from Adani Solar at Rs 2.49 per unit when all other states in the country felt it was too costly and refused.

Keshav had alleged that no other state accepted the offer of Adani Solar for nearly two years, but the AP government went for the dubious deal without proper evaluation.

YSRCP leader and former advisor (public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said the YSRCP government purchased the solar power to supply it free to over 18 lakh farmers in the state under the free farm power scheme.

TDP’s Keshav and K Ramakrishna, State Secretary of CPI, had also filed petitions in the AP High Court against the PPAs. However, the YSRCP government and officials of the energy and finance departments vehemently defended the state government’s decisions.

As per records, Nagulapalli Srikant, who was energy secretary in the Jagan government, said in November 2021 that procuring power from SECI was much more beneficial as others quoted higher prices. He said that the government was at that time purchasing power at Rs 4.36 per unit and providing it to 18.37 lakh farmers free of cost. The tariffs proposed by SECI were the lowest in the country, he said in his statement in the AP High Court. He stated that by purchasing power through SECI, the state could save Rs 2,260 crore.

After the Adani indictment, the YSRCP has said there was no direct agreement between Andhra power distribution companies and the Adani Group. It also pointed out that the PPAs were approved by the APERC (Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission) through its order on November 11, 2021, and the CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission).