‘No engagement with Adani, claims incorrect’: BJD clarifies after BJP attack

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday issued a clarification regarding power purchase agreements in Odisha, and emphatically denied allegations that state government officials took bribes from the Adani group to supply renewable energy to the state from the central pool.
The BJD, which was in power in Odisha from 2000 to June 2024, issued the clarification after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked it over ‘bribe’ charges against Gautam Adani.
In the written exposition, the BJD claimed that the power purchase agreement made three years ago was between two government agencies and did not involve the Adani group. The agreement was made with a central government public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Union Ministry of Renewable Energy and a state govt PSU Gridco-solely for the purpose of supplying renewable energy.
“The agreement was to procure 500MW of renewable energy from SECI at the lowest rates discovered by SECI and it was between two government entities. There was no engagement with any private party whatsoever, including the Adani group,” the media release issued by Deputy Chief Whip Pratap Keshari Deb said.
It added, “In fact to fulfil the renewable energy commitments, the state has been procuring renewable energy from central government PSUs like SECI and NTPC from 2011 onwards.”
Dismissing media allegations as “baseless and incorrect”, Biju Janata Dal clarified that the 2021 power purchase agreement in Odisha involved only government entities SECI and Gridco.
This development comes a day after the BJP alleged that the states that allegedly received bribes from the Adani group for solar power deals were ruled by the Opposition, as mentioned in the US indictment. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra targeted Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi while addressing a press conference on Thursday.
“None of the four states mentioned in US charges against the Adani group had a BJP CM. The Congress and its allies were in power in Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu,” India Today quoted Sambit Patra as saying.
Sambit Patra accused the Rae Bareli MP of attempting to tarnish Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image after the Congress MP had said that PM Modi was hand in glove with Gautam Adani in corrupt activities.