• Source:JND
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Adani Bribery Case: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said that his government will thoroughly study the indictment of Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani in the US, adding that the government will act accordingly after going through the case details.

CM Naidu further said that the Andhra Pradesh government has the "chargesheet reports" filed in the US linked to the alleged bribery scam involving the previous YSRCP government, led by Jagan Mohan Reddy, and the Adani Group. 

"I have all the chargesheet reports filed there (US). It is in the public domain. Will study it (the allegations and indictment). Will act on it and inform you,” Naidu said in the state legislative Assembly. He noted that over the past five months, the TDP-led government has been discussing the alleged corruption that took place between 2019 and 2024.

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Highlighting that the allegations involving the YSRCP regime and Adani group, have hurt the prestige and brand image of the southern state, Naidu termed it as a "very sad development". However, the YSRCP had on Thursday dismissed the allegations made against the government headed by it and said there was no direct agreement with the Adani group.

Adani, India's second-richest man, and seven others, including his nephew Sagar Adani, have been charged by the US Department of Justice with paying bribes to unidentified officials of state governments in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to buy expensive solar power, potentially earning more than USD 2 billion in profit over 20 years.

However, the allegations were refuted by the Adani Group, which termed them "baseless" and "unfounded". "As stated by the US Department of Justice itself, the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All possible legal recourse will be sought," Adani Group spokesperson said in a statement.

BJD Denies Involvement:

Meanwhile, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which was in power in Odisha till June 2024, has also refuted the allegations that state government officials took bribes from the Adani Group for supply of renewable energy to the state from the central pool, calling them "false and not based on fact."

Former Odisha Energy minister and BJD MLA PK Deb, as quoted by PTI said, "The types of allegations made in the name of Odisha are baseless and not based on facts. The Government of Odisha has nothing to do with the agreement. Whatever agreement was done that remained confined among Gridco, the distribution company and the SECI (Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited), a central PSU. The state government has no role in all these matters though the administration was informed regarding the PSA."

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"We in Odisha have privatised the power distribution while other states are doing the job directly. Here Tata Power is doing the distribution part of the electricity supply", he said, adding that the agreement may involve Adani, SECI, Gridco and the distribution company.

"All the agreements on power get the approval of the OERC (Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission), an autonomous body. The Gridco is also semi-autonomous. Therefore, the state government has no direct role in the agreements. Neither the Energy department minister nor the secretary are involved in all such agreements", Deb said.

 

(This is a breaking story. More details will be added.)