In Colombo, MMC Ferdinando, the chairman of Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has resigned from his post days after claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi allegedly pitched for The Adani Group over a wind power project in the country before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. After taking back his statement earlier in the week, Ferdinando resigned from the state-run electricity company on Monday.
During the meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), Ferdinando claimed that President Rajapaksa had revealed to him that a wind power project in Mannar, Northern Province was awarded to the Adani Group after Indian PM Modi urged him to do so. Categorically denying his claims, Rajapaksa had cleared the air tweeting, “Regarding a statement made by the CEB Chairman at a COPE committee hearing regarding the award of a Wind Power Project in Mannar, I categorically deny authorization to award this project to any specific person or entity. I trust responsible communication in this regard will follow.”
According to the Times of India, Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara has accepted the resignation letter of MMC Ferdinando. Notably, on Sunday the official had written to the COPE chair in Parliament that his claims were wrong and he had become “emotional” due to some questions that made him uneasy. He also stated that this retraction was not under influence of either Rajapaksa or any Indian High Commission officer.
A controversy was hatched in India after Leftist media portals like The Wire disseminated the officer’s withdrawn claims as facts. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also quick to target the BJP and Prime Minister Modi over the Wire piece.
The Adani Group has won the tender bid to build a 1,000 MW wind power facility near Mannar worth more than USD 1 billion. Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, had presented a proposal to the Sri Lanka Board of Investment (BOI) and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Around December last year, the agreement was approved.