While the Sri Lankan public is kept in the dark about the details of a proposed Wind Power plant/project of Adani Green Energy Limited in the Mannar District, Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment (BOI) has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) followed by preliminary approval of the project with the Adani Group in early 2023, the Colombo Telegraph learns.

These details emerged from an appeal hearing last week (4^th January 2023) when the Right to Information Commission directed the BOI to clarify responses to an information request submitted by the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL), one of the leading environmental rights groups in Sri Lanka.

The request for information included asking the BOI as to whether an MOU had been signed, if approval had been granted for the project to proceed and to specify the exact area where the project will be located due to environmental concerns.     

RTI Commissioners attorneys Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena and Jagath Liyana Arachchi directed lawyers of the BOI appearing before the Commission to clarify the status of all relevant approvals, informing that the BOI had failed to follow mandated steps under the RTI Act in refusing the information.

Earlier, the BOI had refused the information on the basis that the Adani Group and Ministries including the Ministry of Finance had declined to give their consent to release any information on the power project on the basis that this was ‘confidential’ documentation given by third parties under Section 29 of the RTI Act.

However, when the Commission examined the papers, it was discovered that this refusal was in relation to a separate request and that the BOI had not acted according to the procedures and timelines specified in Section 29, regarding the EFL request.     

In response to the Commission directive, the BOI clarified that an MOU had been signed with the Adani Group, a project proposal handed over and preliminary approval had already been given as well as clearances from the relevant Ministries and state entities including the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and PUCSL.

However, no agreement had been signed and land for the project had not been yet identified in Mannar and Pooneryn, the BOI told the Commission. As such, relevant environmental approvals for the project have yet not been obtained as this comes after identification of the specific land, it was said.

The BOI clarification that a project proposal from the Adani Group had been approved ‘in principle’ by the Sri Lankan Government is the first ‘light’ coming from a power project planned ‘in the dark,’ Mannar civil activists informed CT. ‘This shows that the project has gone a long way in its progress but we, the affected people still know nothing about this, they said.

In Jaffna last week, President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Northern based public servants and civil society that Sri Lanka will soon have ‘excess’ renewable energy as a result of new ‘green energy’ power projects and will export supply to India. However, activists in the Mannar District which will be directly affected from the proposed project, call for more transparency in the process.          

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‘Strictly Justify’ The Refusal To Give Info On Adani Power Project – RTI Commission Orders BOI