Sri Lanka power chief retracts statement accusing PM Modi of insisting on Adani for project

Two days after the chairman of Srilanka’s Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) chairman MMC Ferdinando made a sensational accusation that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “pressurised” the Sri Lankan government to allocate a 500MW wind power project to the Adani Group last year, Ferdinando made a big U-turn admitting he “lied” .
Ferdinando said he got emotional due to the allegations levied on him which led him to “lie against the Indian Prime Minister.” On June 10, Ferdinando appeared in front of the Committee On Public Enterprises (COPE). At that time he said that the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told him the Indian PM was insisting the wind power project be allotted directly to the Adani Group, thus evading a competitive bidding process.
“On November 24, 2021, the president summoned me after a meeting and said, India’s prime minister Modi is pressuring him to hand over the project to the Adani group,” Ferdinando said.   “I told him (President) that this is not a matter related to me or the CEB and it should be referred to the Board of Investment,” he told COPE .
“He (President) insisted that I look into it. I then sent a letter (to the treasury secretary) mentioning that the president has instructed me and the finance secretary should do the needful. I pointed out that this is a government-to-government deal,” Ferdinando added.