Adani Green Energy to withdraw from Sri Lanka wind power projects: Report

Adani Green Energy has decided to withdraw from two proposed wind power projects in Sri Lanka, news agency Reuters reported on Thursday.

The Sri Lankan government had initiated talks with the Adani Group last month to lower the cost of the projects, which were estimated at $1 billion.

Adani Green Energy, in a letter to Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, conveyed that a new Cabinet-appointed negotiations committee and project committee were being constituted to renegotiate the proposal, leading to the company’s decision to withdraw, according to the report.

"While the company fully respects the sovereign rights of Sri Lanka and its choices, it would respectfully withdraw from the said project," Reuters quoted the letter as saying.

Adani Group has yet to issue any public statement on the matter.

The proposed projects were to be located in Mannar and Pooneryn in northern Sri Lanka.

The Adani Group, which remains engaged in the $700-million Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) project at the Colombo Port, is a key player in India’s infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.

The Sri Lankan government started reviewing Adani’s projects in the island nation after the conglomerate faced legal challenges in the United States.

The US Department of Justice has charged Gautam Adani and other executives with allegedly conspiring to pay $265 million in bribes for solar power contracts in India.

In December 2024, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) withdrew its request for financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for the CWIT project.

“The project will be financed through the company’s internal accruals and capital management plan. We have withdrawn our request for financing from the DFC,” Adani Ports had said in a regulatory filing.

The US agency had previously committed a $553-million loan to support the CWIT project, but the funding process stalled following DFC’s request for amendments to the agreement between Adani and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

Sri Lanka has been seeking to fast-track renewable energy projects to mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs following the economic crisis in 2022, which led to severe power shortages.

The Adani Group has been expanding its clean energy portfolio, aiming to become India’s largest renewable energy player by 2030. It currently holds over 20 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, including one of the world’s largest solar power plants in Tamil Nadu.