T’gana rejects Adani’s ₹100-cr donation for skills university project

Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday announced that the state government will not accept the ₹100 crore CSR donation pledged by the Adani Group for the Young India Skills University being set up in Ranga Reddy district on the outskirts of Hyderabad, in the wake of “present circumstances and arising controversies.”

Addressing a press conference, chief minister Reddy, who had laid the foundation stone for the university on August 1, also released a letter written by special chief secretary (industries) Jayesh Ranjan to Adani Foundation chairperson Priti G Adani, asking her not to transfer funds to the university.

“We are thankful to you for committing ₹100 crore to Young India Skills University on behalf of your Foundation through a letter on October 18. We have so far not asked any of the donors for physical transfer of funds since the university had not received the IT exemption under section 80G,” Ranjan said in the letter.

The official further said he has been “instructed by the chief minister not to seek the transfer of funds in view of the present circumstances and arising controversies”.

The chief minister’s announcement came days after the indictment of the Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani in a US court. The US department of Justice indictment alleges that between 2020 and 2024, Adani executives collaborated with those from another company, Azure Power, to pay bribes to Indian government officials in five states to obtain solar energy supply contracts projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits over 20 years. The scheme allegedly began in Odisha before expanding to other states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir.

The Adani Group has strongly denied the allegations as “baseless” and vowed to “seek all possible legal recourse.” Adani has not appeared in public or commented on social media since the indictment and his whereabouts remain unclear.

Stating that some forces have been accusing the state government of accepting funds from the Adani Group, the Telangana chief minister said as per the rule, everyone was given the opportunity to invest legally.

“Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that the company which wins the bids as per the rules will get the opportunity to invest,” Reddy said.

Stalin dismisses Adani link claims

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday hit out at S Ramadoss, founder of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), an ally in the NDA, over the latter’s allegation that the DMK chief and industrialist Gautam Adani held a secret meeting in Chennai at the CM’s residence.

Without taking any names, Stalin claimed Ramadoss keeps issuing such statements “as he does not have any other job”.

“He (Ramadoss) does not have any other job. He will keep issuing some statement or the other every other day. There is no necessity for us to answer that,” Stalin told reporters when asked about allegations levelled by the PMK leader.

The DMK has already dismissed Ramadoss’s allegations, stating there was no commercial link between the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) and the Adani Group firms. Stalin also reiterated this stand on Monday.

(With inputs from Divya Chandrababu in Chennai)