US Indictment: Adani’s Vizag Data Park In Limbo

Visakhapatnam: A question mark hangs over grounding of work on the Adani Group’s Data Park Project in Visakhapatnam at an estimated cost of Rs 21,844 for the second time following the indictment of the billionaire Gautam Adani-led infrastructure conglomerate by the US prosecutors in the New York in a $250 billion bribery of Indian government officials to obtain power supply deals.

As the alleged scandal is raging into a major controversy as the Parliament session is marred by protests by the Opposition, the Telangana government has already rejected Rs100-crore CSR donation and Left parties and Congress in Andhra Pradesh are insisting on scrapping all deals entered into with Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.

The latest controversy marred the group’s prospects at a time when it weathered another controversy which hit its image internationally for sometime following the sensational charges made by the Hindenburg Research over certain shady deals.

US federal agencies found fault with Gautam Adani, the Chairman of the Adani Group and seven others over the controversial bribe payment of $250 million. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approached the judiciary pleading for jury trials and heavy penalties slapped against Gautam Adani, his nephew and a top executive in the Adani Green Energy Sagar Adani and Azure Power’s Cyril Sebastian Dominique Cabanes, a French citizen, over the same charges.

Immediately after the outbreak of the scam and cancellation of several projects internationally, the Adani Group known for its close proximity to the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has dismissed the charges as ‘false and frivolous.’

The foundation stone for Adani’s project in Visakhapatnam was laid twice viz. first on the eve of general elections in February 2019 by then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and in May, 2023 by the YSRCP government led by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The government has already allotted 130 acres for the project with the promise that the project proponent will set up a 200 MW data center, integrated business park and a high-end skill university at Kapuluppada in Madhurawada village. The work on the project is yet to start.

During an earlier stint of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, the Adani Group had proposed to invest in expanding the capacity of the data centre in Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs 70,000 crore over a period of 20 years. However, the YSRCP government subsequently downsized the project.

The latest bribery scam is bound to cast its shadow on the launching of work on the ambitious project at a time when the TDP-led government and Chief Minister Naidu initiated measures to remove obstacles with regard to grounding of the project.

Reacting to the exposure of the bribery scam, noted social activist and former IAS officer EAS Sarma told Bizz Buzz, “Adani is not new to Andhra Pradesh. During 2014-19, the then State government headed by TDP offered the Bhavanapadu port in Srikakulam district on a silver platter. Fortunately, it failed to take off. It is not just Adani, both TDP and YSRCP went out of the way in doling out valuable land and other infrastructure facilities for a song to Adani and other business conglomerates. The present TDP government will not deviate from that approach.”

Sarma said allotment of Madhurawada land to the Adani Group for a data centre is illegal, as pointed out by him in a letter earlier to the State government. “In my view, the allotment order should be revoked. However, knowing the TDP government’s proximity to corporates, it may not act,” he observed.