- Thursday, February 27, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE social media in Sri Lanka is abuzz with plans to hold a “massive protest” against Indian industrialist Gautam Adani’s group over allegations that an energy project in the island-nation was awarded to it after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi put pressure on Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the president of Sri Lanka.
Posters seeking protest asked people to assemble “in front of Majestic City”, a location in Colombo at 2 pm local time on Thursday (16).
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The controversy erupted after MMC Ferdinando, the former chairman of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) told a parliamentary panel of the country that Rajapaksa told him about Modi putting pressure on him to award the green energy project to the Adani Group.
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Rajapaksa strongly denied the claim and Ferdinando retracted his statement. He later quit.
India’s NDTV news channel accessed a letter exclusively which says that the official, while asking Lanka’s finance ministry to fast-track approvals to the 50-megawatt renewable energy project located in the Mannar district, also cited “directions by the (Lankan) prime minister” to recognise the proposal on Adani as one from New Delhi to Colombo.
The Adani Group said it was “disappointed” by the controversy.
“Our intent in investing in Sri Lanka is to address the needs of a valued neighbour. As a responsible corporate, we see this as a necessary part of the partnership that our two nations have always shared. We are clearly disappointed by the detraction that seems to have come about. The fact is that the issue has already been addressed by and within the Sri Lankan Government,” the group said.
