The Adani Group had planned a $440 million investment to develop 484 megawatts of wind power in the northeastern regions of Mannar and Pooneryn under a 20-year agreement….reports Asian Lite News
Sri Lanka’s new government, led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, informed the Supreme Court on Monday that it will reconsider the previous administration’s approval of a wind power project by India’s Adani Group.
The attorney general’s representative told the court that the decision to review the project was made during a Cabinet meeting on October 7. A final decision will be announced after the new Cabinet is formed following the parliamentary election on November 14.
During his presidential campaign, President Dissanayake and his National People’s Power (NPP) alliance pledged to annul the project, citing concerns over Sri Lanka’s energy sovereignty.
The Adani Group had planned a $440 million investment to develop 484 megawatts of wind power in the northeastern regions of Mannar and Pooneryn under a 20-year agreement.
The project is currently under legal scrutiny in the Supreme Court, with petitioners raising concerns about environmental impact, transparency in the bidding process, and financial terms.
They argue that the agreed tariff of $0.0826 per kWh would be a financial loss for Sri Lanka and should be lowered to $0.005 per kWh.
Last week, Sri Lankan cabinet approved an agreement to facilitate legally valid trade activities with Russia through transparent, predictable customs procedures, according to a statement from the government’s information department.
According to the department, although the cabinet approval was granted on November 15, 2021, to sign a bilateral agreement to provide facilities for legally valid trade activities through transparent and predictable customs procedures after a series of bilateral discussions between the Sri Lankan government and Russian government, it has not been signed, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, the cabinet approved the proposal presented by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake who is also minister of finance, economic development, policy formulation, planning, and tourism to sign for it.
Trade between Sri Lanka and Russia has been growing significantly since the disintegration of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Though Sri Lanka’s balance of trade has been continuously favourable from 2007 to 2014, the gap has been reduced gradually with the increase in imports. Further, with the decrease in tea exports from Sri Lanka to Russia from 2015 onwards, the trade balance was facing a fluctuating trend.
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