Adani advisor’s appointment in govt panel sparks row

New Delhi: The inclusion of an advisor from Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) in an environment ministry panel created a political uproar on Tuesday, with opposition parties slamming the government for a perceived ‘conflict of interest’.

Janardan Choudhary, a key advisor to Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), was named as one of the seven non-institutional members by the Union Environment Ministry when it reconstituted the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) for hydroelectricity and river valley projects in September.

The AGEL’s 1,500-megawatt Tarali pumping storage project in Maharashtra’s Satara came up for consideration during the reconstituted EAC’s first meeting on October 17-18, according to the minutes of the meeting available on the Environment Ministry’s PARIVESH portal.

Choudhary clarified that while he attended the October 17 meeting, he refrained from participating in the session focusing on the AGEL Tarali project. He said he serves as an advisor to AGEL and is not on the company’s payroll.

He had a 36-year tenure with NHPC and retired as director (technical) in March 2020.