Updated September 23, 2024 at 2:50 p.m.*
MANNAR — Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took his oath early Monday morning in Colombo after he was declared the winner of election with 42.31% of the vote, promising “a new clean political culture” and “to safeguard democracy.”
Indeed, as the leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) socialist political alliance, Dissanayake campaigned on a platform of change and reform, pledging to address the nation’s deep economic challenges and restore public trust in government institutions.
Among the most pressing issues on Dissanayake’s agenda will be the controversial Adani wind farm project on the Sri Lankan island of Mannar. During his campaign, the 55-year-old politician pledged to cancel the $442 million deal in the name of “energy sovereignty,” a stance that resonated with many Sri Lankans concerned about the project’s environmental and economic implications.
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However, as he takes office, Dissanayake may face significant resistance in following through on this promise, particularly given India’s substantial influence in the region and its $4 billion loan to Sri Lanka following the country’s debt default. The new president will need to navigate these complex geopolitical waters carefully, balancing domestic concerns with the need to maintain positive relations with its powerful neighbor.
Turbines on a postcard
The island of Mannar, in northwest Sri Lanka, makes for a lovely postcard. This flat, sandy strip of land stretches for 28 kilometers, lined with coconut palms and flanked by long, sandy beaches. Access to the southern part is via a road that cuts through the sea for 3 kilometers (1.9 miles). Life here is colorful, simple and tranquil, with the some 75,000 islanders working as fishermen, small traders or in government jobs.
The northern tip of the island is only 23 kilometers (14.3 miles) from India. And the people of Mannar, usually indifferent to Indians, now look askance at their imposing neighbor. That’s because Gautam Adani, the insatiable Indian businessman, wants to build around 50 wind turbines on Mannar to profit from the strong, continuous winds that sweep across the island all year round.
“We need green energy. But the problem is where to build the turbines,” says Benedict Croos, president of the local branch of the National Fishery Solidarity Movement (Nafso), which is lobbying for the project to be shut down.
The 2 million deal, which also involves the village of Pooneryn further north, was sealed in February 2023 between the Sri Lankan government, led by current president Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Adani Green Energy, the company in charge of renewable energy projects within the Adani Group.
In India, this gigantic conglomerate has conquered virtually every sector of activity: port and airport management, petrochemicals, power generation, and food processing. Its appetite now extends beyond the country’s borders: to Bangladesh, Israel, Australia and now Sri Lanka. Adani is also planning to invest 0 million in the island’s largest port, located in the heart of the capital, Colombo.
Environmental peril
During the catastrophic economic crisis that forced Sri Lanka to default on its debt in 2022, its foreign currency reserves collapsed and the country was no longer able to pay for the fuel required by its thermal power plants. Colombo had to impose power cuts of up to 10 hours a day to save its meager fuel reserves.
Since then, the country has embarked on a race for renewable energies. Hence the quest for foreign investment.
But as soon as the Mannar agreement was signed, voices were immediately raised to say ‘No’ to the project. Last May, several activists, backed by Fidelis Fernando, the Catholic bishop of Mannar, filed a complaint with the country’s Supreme Court to oppose the Adani project. They argue that the impact study for the project was both botched and biased, so that Adani could be entrusted with its implementation as quickly as possible and without any transparency.
The residents now depend on a pipeline for their water supply.
J. Yogaraj, a fisherman from Mannar, has seen for himself the deleterious impact of such projects. On the island’s southern coast, the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has already erected 30 wind turbines. The construction of an elevated road snaking around the foot of the turbines acts like a dam.
“The area is regularly flooded,” explains the fisherman. “The road prevents rainfall from flowing normally to the sea.” In the stagnant waters, mosquitoes swarm, and with them cases of dengue fever. Four hundred cases, including one fatality, were recorded last year. “We didn’t have this many cases before”, assures J. Yogaraj.
Digging at a depth of 30 meters to lay the foundations for the turbines, the CEB drilled through two aquifers, one filled with fresh water and the other with salt water, which did not normally communicate. The result: both pockets now contain salt water.
Residents, who until now had only to draw water from the well, now depend on a pipeline for their supply. The water they have to pay for is laden with toxic chemicals because it comes from an inland agricultural area. “I’m not against green energy, but the project should be done elsewhere,” says J. Yogaraj.
Shaved trees
Some 15 million migratory birds pass through the island every year. “And we’re going to build 52 wind turbines with 93-meter-long blades turning at 100 km per hour in the path of these birds?” said zoologist Sampath S. Seneviratne from the University of Colombo.
Edward, a 69-year-old fisherman with parchment-colored skin, has noticed that his catches are rarer along the south coast, where CEB has built its wind turbines. “Before, there were fish 1 km from the shore. Now, you have to go 15, even 20 km,” he explains, making big movements towards the open sea. This is due to the shadow cast by the blades on the sea, which scares away marine wildlife.
This project needs to be done differently.
And then there are the vibrations emitted by the turbines. The fisherman says he hears this roar when he dives for sea cucumbers, which are then sent to the Chinese, who love them. “At least one of the two coasts must be preserved. If Adani builds wind turbines here, where will we go?”
Ravindranath Dabare, the lawyer who took the case to the Supreme Court, says the rights of the island’s inhabitants are being trampled on. “We have nothing against Adani. But this project needs to be done differently.”
Contacted by Les Echos, an Adani spokesperson assures us that “the turbines will be installed away from the paths and roads used by fishermen and local communities,” and a radar system equipped with artificial intelligence is planned to detect bird flights. The Group says the project is expected to create around 1,000 local jobs and contribute to the country’s energy security by generating “clean, renewable energy.”
A disadvantageous deal
Such a price would put pressure on Sri Lanka’s public finances, which are already stretched thin since the economic collapse of 2022. Some experts have pointed out that the Indian government buys Adani’s electrons for less than 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. Twice as cheap, in other words.
The irregularities are numerous.
The way in which the project was entrusted to the Indian conglomerate also raises questions. “There was no call for tenders. And the decision was taken unilaterally by the government. This is not the usual procedure”, points out historian and international relations expert George I. H. Cooke. “The irregularities are numerous.”
Gotabaya “Gota” Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022, had launched the project. The notoriously corrupt leader was forced to flee the country in the summer of 2022 with hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans furious at the state into which Gota had plunged the country. His successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took the helm of the country thanks to the support of the Rajapaksa clan, is determined to carry out the project.
Pressure from India
As the major economic and geopolitical power in the region, India is in a position to dictate terms to Sri Lanka. Especially since Delhi lent its neighbor billion after it defaulted on its debt. In Colombo, some experts are convinced that the Adani contract is a way of returning the favor to India’s big brother.
And it’s no coincidence that Adani, reputedly very close to Narendra Modi, was chosen. “There must have been pressure from Delhi on this issue,” says Jehan Perera, director of the NGO National Peace Council of Sri Lanka.
In June 2022, M. C. Ferdinando, ex-chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board, appeared before Parliament to explain that the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government had been pressured by Narendra Modi himself to award the island’s renewable energy projects to his friend Gautam Adani.
The remarks triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, and Ferdinando was forced to backtrack, explaining that he had said the Indian Prime Minister’s name under “pressure and emotion”, before resigning. “The nepotism of the BJP [Narendra Modi’s party] has crossed the Palk Strait and settled in Sri Lanka,” said Rahul Gandhi, Modi’s main opponent in India, at the time.
Modi-Adani duo
Gautam Adani’s fortune has exploded since Modi came to power in 2014, thanks in particular to the granting of public concessions that have proved highly profitable for the tycoon, who like Modi hails from the state of Gujarat. His conglomerate, which has been embroiled in serious fraud charges since January 2023, is closely linked to Modi’s infrastructure development plans.
The businessman is said to be involved in 10% of the country’s infrastructure projects. And the pair have no intention of stopping at India. Some even accuse Modi of acting as a luxury salesman to get Gautam Adani to sign lucrative contracts abroad.
The price negotiated by Adani was deemed far too high by some experts.
In 2017, following a visit by Modi to Bangladesh, Gautam Adani signed an agreement with Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladesh Prime Minister, to supply Dhaka with electricity generated by a gigantic coal-fired power plant located in the Indian state of Jharkhand. Here too, the price negotiated by Adani was deemed far too high by some experts.
“This agreement was not made to meet our demand for energy. It was designed to satisfy Adani and Modi”, said Anu Muhammad, a Bangladeshi activist and economics professor. Modi was one of the most important supporters of Sheikh Hasina, ousted from power this summer by a widespread popular revolt.
After delays in payment, Adani has put pressure on Dhaka to settle more than 0 million in unpaid bills. But the new Bangladeshi government, which feels cheated, explained this week that it would be scrutinizing the details of Hasina’s contract to see if the country was paying the right price in this deal with Adani.
Back in Sri Lanka, there are fears of a similar scenario. The Sri Lankan presidential election, which saw Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) rise to power, could spell the end of the project if the new leader makes good on his campaign promises.
But whether he could stave off the pressure and influence from India once in office may be easier said than done.
*Originally published September 20, 2024, this article was updated September 23, 2024 with news about Sri Lanka’s election.
