Adani defending key India projects against environmental challenges
Adani defending key India projects against environmental challenges
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's group is battling allegations in court this month that its planned multibillion-dollar power plant and a luxury housing complex breach environment laws, adding to its many legal headaches.
Such allegations have often troubled Adani projects in India and abroad. In Australia, the group battled a seven-year activist campaign against its Carmichael coal mine, and construction at its seaport in south India was halted for months in 2022 due to protests over coast erosion.
Now, Adani Group is defending itself against allegations made in India's National Green Tribunal that it started work on a $2 billion power plant without waiting for environmental clearance. This case is set for a hearing on Friday.
The lawsuit by an activist says the site for the plant is within a forest in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The suit seeks to halt the project saying it would devastate the area and impact wildlife, court papers show.
Adani denied in a March 6 filing that any of its activities at the site are environmentally damaging. "The project land is not a forest land," Adani also said in the filing.
State pollution control official Reetesh Kumar Tewari told Reuters that Adani stopped work at the site after it was sent a November warning notice about the construction.
