Mahayuti govt in Maharashtra chooses to spend last few days in power helping Adani: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday slammed the Mahayuti government over the Adani group winning a bid to supply 6,600 MW of bundled renewable and thermal power to Maharashtra and wondered if "these revdis" to the conglomerate will put a heavy burden of tariff on the state's consumers.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said even as the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra "totters towards a landslide defeat", they choose to spend their last few days in power pursuing a "Modani enterprise", giving the Adani Group a giant power purchasing contract.

"Here are 5 questions for the non-biological PM on his new joint venture. Is it not true that – The terms and conditions of the tender issued by the Maharashtra Government for bids on 1600 MW thermal and 5000 MW solar on March 13, 2024, were modified from the Standard Bidding Guidelines to minimise competition?" he said in a post on X.

"The tariff for the 1600 MW coal power is roughly Rs 12 crore per MW, at a time when Adani has itself contracted with BHEL for less than Rs 7 crore per MW, and other providers such as NTPC/DVC/Neveli Lignite Corporations are implementing large thermal projects at Rs 8-9 crore per MW," he said.

Ramesh asked whether Rs 28,000 crore of the project cost will be financed entirely by the agencies controlled by the Ministry of Power of the Maharashtra government.

"Tariffs for solar power are in the Rs 2.5 per unit range but Adani Green will be supplying power at Rs. 2.7 per unit? These revdis (freebies) distributed to the Adani Group will put a heavy burden of tariff on the 2.7 crore consumers in the state of Maharashtra?" Ramesh said.

Adani group won a bid to supply 6,600 MW of bundled renewable and thermal power to Maharashtra for the long term after its quote of Rs 4.08 per unit beat the likes of JSW Energy and Torrent Power.

Adani Power's bid for the bundled renewable and thermal energy supply for 25 years was almost a rupee lower than the cost at which Maharashtra currently procures electricity and will help meet future electricity requirements of the state, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Supplies are to start in 48 months from the date of award of the letter of intent.