Billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate on Tuesday said it will use its own resources to fund a Sri Lankan port project and not seek US funding.
In an exchange filing late on Tuesday, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd said the project “is on track for commissioning by early next year” and added that the company will fund the ongoing project through “internal accruals”, aligning with its capital management strategy.
The company said it has withdrawn its 2023 “request for financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)”.The US International Development Finance Corp, in November last year, agreed to provide a $553 million loan for the deep-water container terminal called the Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT) at the Port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
The CWIT is being developed by a consortium of Adani Ports, Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).
The loan process stalled after the DFC asked that the agreement between Adani and the SLPA be amended to align with their conditions, which then went under review by Sri Lanka’s attorney-general.
The US agency had recently stated that it was “actively assessing the ramifications” of the bribery allegations against the Adani group executives. Adani group has denied all charges as baseless.
Power hurdle
The Adani group is reportedly seeking fresh concessions from the Centre for its power unit in Jharkhand that is grappling with unpaid dues from Bangladesh.
In August, the power ministry allowed Adani Power to sell electricity generated from the coal-fired plant in India. However, its location in a designated SEZ is hampering such a sale, according to Bloomberg. Unless the commerce ministry gives an exemption, power produced would be considered imported — and subject to tax.
As part of its request, Adani is seeking a waiver on customs duty on the imported coal for the 1.6-gigawatt facility. If these concessions are not given, Adani would be unable to sell the power in India.
PTI; With inputs from Mumbai bureau
