Sri Lankan official at centre of Adani controversy quits

New Delhi, June 13

The Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board M.M.C. Ferdinando, who was at the centre of a controversy around the Adani group, has resigned, said Lanka’s Power Minister Kanchana Wijesekera.

Ferdinando said he had mistakenly said Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told him that PM Narendra Modi had insisted that a Wind Power Project be awarded to the Adani Group.

The official said he had made the observation after he became emotional due to allegations levelled at him at a meeting with the Committee on Public Enterprises session last Friday. “I have withdrawn that statement,” he said.

Gotabaya has also denied the statement made by Ferdinando with regard to awarding a Wind Power Project. “I categorically deny authorisation to award this project to any specific person or entity. I trust responsible communication in this regard will follow,” he had tweeted.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had criticised the development and had alleged that the BJP’s cronyism crossed the Palk Strait and moved into Sri Lanka.

Last year, too, a controversy regarding the Adani group had cropped up after the Sri Lankan government approved Indian and Japanese investment in the West Container Terminal (WCT). A Sri Lankan Government Cabinet note had said, “the proposal presented by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited has been approved by the Indian High Commission’’. But the MEA later clarified that the Sri Lankan government had directly engaged with the Adanis.