My name not mentioned anywhere, says Jagan Reddy on Adani bribe controversy

YSRCP top leader and former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday strongly refuted allegations of payment of bribes to Andhra Pradesh officials by the Adani Group for solar power purchases during his party-led government, and said his name was not mentioned anywhere in a US court's indictment on the matter.

In his first reaction days after the controversy broke out, Reddy also said he had met the Adanis several times during his tenure as the CM of Andhra Pradesh which was "not unusual".

"Nowhere it mentions that incentives were offered to me because there is no way anybody can offer incentives to me, first of all. And businessmen meeting heads of states is not unusual. This in fact is an ordinary practice," he told reporters.

He further said the allegations of bribes are all hearsay and nobody has said that Jagan or somebody has taken bribes.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has been charged by the US Department of Justice over his role in a years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable solar power contracts, an allegation refuted by the Indian conglomerate.

Jagans said he would file a defamation case to the tune of Rs 100 crore against some vernacular dailies for allegedly distorting the facts and publishing stories.

The former CM said that with the power supply agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the state would be saving over Rs one lakh crore over 25 years.

He said agreement wad between AP DISCOMS and SECI and there was no third party in it.

Earlier too, the opposition YSRCP had said its government had no direct agreement with the Adani Group, and that the power sale pact signed in 2021 was between the SECI and AP Discoms.

It had last week said the power procurement of 7,000 MW was approved by AP Electricity Regulatory Commission in November, 2021 after which the Power Sale Agreement (PSA) was signed on December 1, 2021 between SECI and AP Discoms.