Adani bribery case: Jagan's ex-advisor seeks probe into power deals during YSRCP regime

Hyderabad: Even as the dust is yet to settle on the Adani bribery case, a retired IAS officer, who once worked in the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government, has alleged that two IAS officers played a key role in signing a 7000 MW solar energy PPA with SECI and aided the then leadership to extract massive 'rent' in Andhra Pradesh.

The Andhra Pradesh's PPAs with SECI are at the center of the Adani bribery case in the USA. Retired bureaucrat P V Ramesh also said this had undermined the viability of power utilities, and the entire power system in the state was damaged seriously while negatively impacting the economy. He urged the current Andhra Pradesh government to initiate an investigation and take appropriate action.

The US court filings in Gautam Adani's indictment have said he had offered bribes to government officials in several states, including in Andhra Pradesh, to facilitate deals with SECI in 2021. The US Securities Commission, in its complaint, had explicitly said Gautam Adani had personally met the then chief minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and offered a bribe of Rs 1750 crore to facilitate the SECI deal.

“In June 2019, Andhra Pradesh cancelled 2,132 MW of PPAs involving 23 solar projects of 9 renewable energy producers. The same government signed a PPA for 7000 MW of solar energy from one developer via SECI in December 2021. Two IAS officers played a key role in aiding and abetting their ‘lord & master’ in facilitating the extraction of massive rent on both occasions. A well-functioning power system of AP was torn asunder and damaged seriously. This has undermined the viability of power utilities, steeply increased the real cost of power delivered to the consumer, negatively impacted the economy, and undermined investor confidence. These criminal actions require serious investigation and exemplary action. The real situation is much worse than what’s available in the public domain. Priority action is needed with a sense of urgency,” said PV Ramesh, who was once Jagan's advisor, in a social media post on Saturday night.

The then Government of Andhra Pradesh entered into an arrangement to procure power from SECI to the tune of 7,000 MW at Rs. 2.49 per kWh for a 25-year period, with 3,000 MW commencing in Financial Year (FY) 2024-25, 3,000 MW commencing in FY 2025-26, and 1,000 MW commencing in FY 2026-27.

After Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister, the AP government appointed Ramesh, a retired special chief secretary, and Ajeya Kallam, another retired senior bureaucrat, as advisors in the CMO. After working in the CMO for some time, he resigned from the post in November 2020.

Stripping all his powers as the advisor in the CMO by allocating his subjects to other IAS officers had become a talking point in the political circles and bureaucracy in the state at that point in time.