Gautam Adani bribery charges: Tamil Nadu CM Stalin evades direct reply; comes under attack from PMK, BJP

Stalin said he had nothing to add since Energy Minister V Senthil Balaji has already clarified the state government’s position on the issue.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday evaded a direct response to allegations of charges filed in a US court accusing Adani Group of promising bribes to Indian government officials, saying he had nothing to add since Energy Minister V Senthil Balaji has already clarified the state government’s position on the issue.

“The department minister has already given a clarification. Please don’t twist his statement,” the Chief Minister said, when asked to comment on a statement by PMK founder S Ramadoss that the state government should clarify who Adani, or his officials met in Tamil Nadu.

“He (Ramadoss) doesn’t have any other job. He keeps issuing statements every day and I am under no compulsion to respond to him,” Stalin added.

Balaji had on November 21 said the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) doesn’t have any “business relationship” with the Adani Group and that the state government entered into an agreement only with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for purchase of solar power at a “cheap price.”

In response to the CM’s statement, Ramadoss’ son and PMK chief Anbumani Ramadoss expressed shock at Stalin’s “anxiety” after hearing the question.

“Why was he so anxious? There was no need. Our party founder asked a genuine question, and he should have answered it. He had only sought a clarification whether Gautam Adani and the CM met secretly. The CM has insulted Dr Ramadoss, who is a very senior politician,” he said.

TN BJP chief K Annamalai too came in the defence of his ally, Ramadoss, seeking to know why the DMK, which had always dragged Adani and Ambani to hide its administrative failures, is now trying to “hide their connection” with the business group. “Everyone has the right to question the political double standards of the DMK, more so Dr Ramadoss, who holds an important position in the state’s political landscape. The CM’s behaviour only shows his helplessness,” Annamalai added.

The minister had said that the TNEB signed an agreement with SECI, a public sector undertaking of the Union Government, for purchase of solar power at Rs 2.61 per unit. The agreement between TNEB and SECI was signed on September 16, 2021, for a period of 25 years after the proposal was cleared by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission on September 7.

Balaji was responding to allegations recorded in a US court that the Adani Group promised bribes to Indian government officials between July 2021 and February 2022 following which electricity distribution firms from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jammu and Kashmir entered into pacts with SECI for purchase of solar power.

Adani Group, which has varied business interests in Tamil Nadu, had in January this year pledged an investment of over Rs 42,700 crore, including Rs 24,500 crore Adani Green Energy Ltd in three pump storage projects (PSP) in the next five to seven years.