Janardan Choudhary, a key advisor to Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), recently became one of the seven non-institutional members Expert Appraisal Committee for hydroelectricity and river valley projects
The appointment of an advisor from Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) to an environment ministry panel sparked political controversy on Tuesday, with opposition parties criticising the government for an apparent 'conflict of interest.
Janardan Choudhary, a key advisor to Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL), was named as one of the seven non-institutional members by the Union Environment Ministry when it reconstituted the Expert Appraisal Committee for hydroelectricity and river valley projects in September.
AGEL's 1,500-megawatt Tarali pumping storage project in Maharashtra's Satara was discussed during the reconstituted EAC's first meeting on October 17–18, according to the minutes of the meeting available on the Environment Ministry's PARIVESH portal.
Choudhary clarified to PTI that although he attended the October 17 meeting, he refrained from participating in the session focusing on the AGEL Tarali project. He mentioned that he serves as an advisor to AGEL but is not on the company's payroll.
Choudhary, with a 36-year tenure at NHPC, retired as director (technical) in March 2020 and assumed the role of advisor to AGEL in April 2022. He also stated that he had disclosed his affiliation with the company to the ministry before his appointment to the EAC.
The primary role of the EACs is to provide recommendations to the environment ministry regarding project proposals after evaluating their potential impacts. Based on these recommendations, the ministry decides whether to reject the proposal or grant clearance with specific conditions to mitigate or compensate for the impacts.
Political parties seized on the issue, criticising the Narendra Modi government and questioning the appointment of Choudhury to the EAC.
"Adani Pradhan Sevak appointed Adani employee Janardhan Choudhury as a member of EAC under the Environment Ministry. This committee has to approve 6 Adani projects (10,300 MW)," the Kerala Congress posted on its official Twitter account.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Twitter: "Please don’t even mention conflict of interest, etc. that applies for others, not where friends with benefits are concerned."
"If an ethics committee can hold an elected member of parliament guilty for sharing email by calling it a national security and conflict of interest issue, how is a person working as an advisor to a private company, a company that has pending approvals in MoEFs NAC, allowed a seat on the NAC itself? No issues of conflict of interest are applicable here. There are no reasons to investigate and find out how he made it there; who put him there, and why is he the chosen one?" she said.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra, facing possible expulsion from the Lok Sabha following a recommendation by the Ethics Committee, said, "Modiji's Ministry of Environment appointed Adani employee Janardhan Choudhury as a member of EAC—6 Adani projects totaling 10300 MW.