According to a top local official, work on an Adani Group-led port expansion project in Sri Lanka is proceeding according to plan, despite the fact that the destiny of $553 million in US funding for the project is still up in the air after the Indian conglomerate’s officials were indicted in the US.
According to Sirimevan Ranasinghe, chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, a minority stakeholder in the project, construction at the Colombo West International Terminal is still proceeding, with phase one of the project still scheduled for completion in early 2025.
Last year, the US International Development Finance Agency, or DFC, agreed to provide $553 million to support the development of the Colombo transshipment port, which is mostly controlled by an Adani Group company. The endeavor was generally interpreted as an attempt to limit Beijing’s influence in the area and serve as a counterbalance to China’s enormous infrastructure projects.
The DFC stated that no funds had been released for the project and that it was still performing due diligence on its loan obligation after the US Department of Justice announced the indictment. The agency added that Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., the Adani entity that was involved in the port project, was not named in the indictment.
Following the US legal action against Adani executives for their alleged involvement in a $250 million plot to bribe Indian officials, a number of high-profile international projects supported by the Adani company have been placed in limbo.
While France’s TotalEnergies SE, an equal partner in Indian gas distributor Adani Total Gas Ltd., announced it would not be making any additional financial contributions to the conglomerate for the time being, Kenya canceled $2.6 billion worth of airport and power transmission contracts that the tycoon’s company had submitted bids for.
