Top Sri Lanka official says ‘Modi pressured Rajapaksa to award power project to Adani’; later retracts claim | India News,The Indian Express
Ferdinando withdrew his statements soon after, saying he was 'emotional'. Gotabaya’s office also 'vehemently' denied the allegations.
A top Sri Lankan official Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allegedly put pressure on Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to award a 500-megawatt power project to the Adani group, headed by billionaire Gautam Adani. The official later retracted the statement, with Gotabaya’s office also “vehemently” denying the allegations.
The accusations are related to a 500-megawatt renewable energy project in the island nation’s northern Mannar district. Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), MMC Ferdinando, appearing in front of a parliamentary panel in Colombo on Friday, claimed that during his conversation with Rajapaksa, the President had told him that Modi had put pressure on him to award the project to Adani.
Ferdinando was addressing the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), and can be heard telling them that Rajapaksa “told me that he was under pressure from Modi.” The senior official told the committee that the President had asked him to give the project to Adani.
The discussion between Rajapaksa and Ferdinando had allegedly taken place when he was summoned by the President following a meeting chaired by him.
However, Ferdinando withdrew his statements soon after, saying he was “emotional”.
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