TheAdani Group’s renewable energy project in Mannar and Pooneryn in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province will be completed by January 2025, according to Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera.
The commitment was given when Group Chairperson Gautam Adani met Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi on July 21, the Minister said in a tweet. Mr. Wijesekera was part of the Sri Lankan President’s delegation that was in India recently, when the two sides signed agreements on renewable energy cooperation and development of the eastern city of Trincomalee as an energy hub. A permit clearing the joint venture between Ceylon Electricity Board & NTPC for a solar park in the eastern town of Sampur, in Trincomalee district, was also issued, the Minister said.
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Following his meeting with the Sri Lankan leader last week, Mr. Adani said in a tweet: “Great honour to have met H.E. President Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss a fascinating set of projects in Sri Lanka including continued development of Colombo Port West Container Terminal, 500 MW wind project, and extending our renewal energy expertise to produce green Hydrogen.”
Totalling nearly $ 1 billion in investment, the projects signal the Indian multinational conglomerate’s growing footprint in the regional port and energy sector. Earlier this month, Mr. Adani met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as the Adani-built power plant in Jharkhand’s Godda district began supplying electricity to Bangladesh.
In Sri Lanka, the Group entered the Colombo Port project in 2021 as the majority stakeholder, after Colombo unilaterally cancelled the East Container Terminal development plan that the governments of Sri Lanka, India, and Japan had agreed to jointly execute. Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instead offered the West Container Terminal project to India, and Sri Lankan authorities said the Adani Group stepped in as India’s “nominee”.
The Group’s renewable energy project faced some backlash initially, amid allegations of Indian “pressure”, and questions raised by the Opposition over the group’s “backdoor entry”. Later, Sri Lanka amended its energy laws.
The Sri Lankan Government also expressed confidence over the future of the Adani projects coming up on the island, when the Group’s stocks fell sharply in the wake of a damaging report by U.S.-based short seller firm Hindenburg Research earlier this year. “For us, there is absolutely nothing to worry [about], because it is a transparent process and a government-to-government kind of a project,” Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told The Hindu during a visit to New Delhi in March.
