Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday rejected allegations that the Adani Group had paid or promised bribes to state officials during his government’s tenure, The Hindu reported.
“Incentives were never offered to me by anyone, nor can anyone dare to do so,” the YSR Congress Party chief said at a press conference.
The bribery claims were based on hearsay, Reddy said, adding that there was no evidence suggesting that he or anyone else in his administration at the time had accepted bribes.
Reddy also noted that his name was not mentioned in the indictment documents filed in a United States court against industrialist Gautam Adani, among others.
Reddy’s YSR Congress Party was in power in Andhra Pradesh between 2019 and early June when it lost the Assembly polls.
On November 20, the US Attorney’s office for the Eastern District in New York indicted Gautam Adani, who is the chairperson of the Adani Group, in a $265 million bribery and fraud case.
In a filing, the United States’ markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Andhra Pradesh’s previous YSR Congress government had been paid or promised a bribe of nearly $200 million, or Rs 1,750 crore, by Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, in exchange for power supply agreements.
The regulatory body alleged that Gautam Adani met the YSR Congress Party chief in August 2021 to discuss the state not having entered into a power supply agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India and asked about the “incentives” that would push the government to do so.
It alleged that Sagar Adani had also met Reddy on September 12, 2021. An Adani Group company, Adani Green, along with another company Azure Power, stood to benefit from such an agreement, claimed the regulatory body.
The Adani Group said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani had been charged with securities fraud in the United States, not bribery.
“Foreign Official #1” is how the indictment document by the United States identifies a high-ranking official in Andhra Pradesh whom Gautam Adani is claimed to have met personally in August 2021 to allegedly offer bribes to get solar contracts.
The indictment document does not reveal the name of the official.
But a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in November, of which Scroll and The News Minute have a copy, states that the official was the “chief minister of Andhra Pradesh”, who at the time was Reddy.
On Thursday, when asked about meeting Gautam Adani during his chief ministerial tenure, Reddy said that such interactions between businesspersons and government leaders is a “standard practice” and that it was not unusual.
“I met Mr Adani several times before and after entering an agreement with the SECI [Solar Energy Corporation of India],” The Hindu quoted him as saying.
Reddy noted that Andhra Pradesh was acquiring power at nearly Rs 5.1 per kWh when his party came to power in June 2019, The Indian Express reported.
This cost was brought down to Rs 2.49 per kWh by his government by entering into an agreement to purchase power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India, which is a Government of India enterprise, Reddy added.
“The power purchase agreement was between Andhra Pradesh government discoms [distribution companies] and the Solar Energy Corporation of India – two government agencies,” he said. “No others, including industrialist Gautam Adani or the Adani Group, were involved in this.”
He added: “The tariff of Rs 2.49 per kWh was offered by no one else, and there are so many benefits to the state.”
The former chief minister also said that the state’s ruling Telugu Desam Party was spreading false information about the matter.
Telugu Desam Party chief and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on November 22 that the allegations had hurt the brand image of Andhra Pradesh.
On Monday, the Andhra Pradesh government said it is reviewing its internal files to determine whether cancelling a power supply contract linked to the Adani Group was possible.
Naidu had also said that his government will study the indictment documents and take action if irregularities were found.
Also read:
Gautam Adani met ex Andhra CM Jagan Reddy to offer $200 million bribe, alleges US securities panel
Adani US indictment: The Indian solar deals for which Rs 2,029 crore was allegedly paid in bribes
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!