Government Abruptly Terminates Services of SECI Chairman Rameshwar Prasad Gupta
New Delhi: The Union government on May 10 terminated the services of the chairman and managing director of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), Rameshwar Prasad Gupta, with immediate effect. The SECI has courted controversy recently.
Reports have said that the order did not specify the reason why Gupta was terminated.
A 1987-batch Gujarat-cadre bureaucrat who retired from the environment ministry, Gupta was appointed SECI chairman in June 2023. He has also worked with the government thinktank NITI Aayog and the Union coal ministry. His tenure was supposed to end in June 2024.
The SECI is a Navratna enterprise functioning under the aegis of renewable energy ministry and is the only central public sector undertaking dedicated to the renewable energy sector.
Last year, the SECI was thrust into public attention when the US’ Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York charged billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani over his alleged role in what they called was a “massive bribery scheme”.
The Wire had noted how, apart from allegations that SECI may have quoted power rates higher than market rates – which was why state distribution companies did not agree to enter into contracts with SECI but did so after bribes may have been paid – a detailed analysis of the US Attorney’s indictment suggests that SECI may have shared “internal documents” with some of the people accused in the case including Sagar Adani, nephew of Gautam Adani and CEO of Adani Green Energy Limited.
Also read: How Government Policies and SECI Have Favoured the Adani Group
Business Standard has said in its report that Gupta's abrupt termination comes in the wake of several controversies involving SECI and at a time when its core task of buying and selling renewable energy is facing a significant backlog.
The report says that close to 40 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy projects have failed to find buyers despite the tendering process having already started.
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