In a setback for the Adani Group, the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has cancelled its global tender for procurement of smart meters despite the Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) emerging as the “lowest bidder” for it.
The state government’s Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) scrapped the smart meter procurement tender, citing “high costs” quoted by the AESL – the lowest bidder for one of the four packages that covered eight districts, including Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu.
This package alone involved the proposed installation of over 8.2 million smart meters under the Centre-funded Rs 19,000 crore Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which is envisaged for installing smart meters for all electricity connections in the state barring the agricultural ones.
All four tenders, floated in August 2023, have been cancelled, including those for the remaining three packages covering other districts, due to “administrative reasons”, sources in the Tangedco said, adding that the government would refloat the tenders soon.
The M K Stalin government’s move comes a month after US prosecutors indicted Adani Group chairman Gautam S Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others for allegedly offering Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials for securing “lucrative solar energy supply contracts” with state electricity distribution companies. The Adani Group has dismissed these allegations as baseless. The US indictment has at its centre the Centre-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).
Seizing on this development, the Opposition INDIA bloc, especially its leading member Congress, has escalated its attacks on the Adani Group. The DMK is a key constituent of the INDIA alliance.
