On Tuesday, the island nation of Sri Lanka declared that it would sign a 20-year contract with the Adani Group to purchase electricity from a $442 million wind power project that the Indian company is constructing there.
Kanchana Wijesekera, the energy minister, informed reporters that the state-run energy company will purchase electricity at a rate of $0.0826 per kilowatt-hour, which is approximately one-third less than the average paid currently.
Within two years, the Adani plant is anticipated to be connected to the national grid, according to a representative of the Adani Group.
Following Sri Lanka’s awarding of Adani a $700 million key port terminal project in Colombo in 2021, follows the renewable energy project.
Adani Group had been nominated as the contractor by the Indian government.
Its founder Gautam Adani is Asia’s second-richest man and has longstanding ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Adani Group last year denied accusations of “brazen” corporate fraud by a US short-seller that sent the share price of its listed units into freefall, though it has since reversed the decline.
The port project a 1.4-kilometre (0.9-mile), 20-metre (66-foot) deep jetty right next to a Chinese-operated terminal in Colombo was widely seen as a bid to address New Delhi’s growing concern over Beijing’s expanding influence in the Indian Ocean.
China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, accounting for 10 percent of the island nation’s overall foreign debt.
Colombo is awaiting a debt restructuring agreement with Beijing and other official and private creditors to continue with a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
