Gautam Adani meets President to explore green hydrogen projects

Billionaire Gautam Adani said today that he had a meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe to explore multiple range of projects in Sri Lanka.

In a Twitter post, Adani revealed that the discussions covered the ongoing development of Colombo Port West Container Terminal, a 500 MW wind project, and the expansion of their renewable energy expertise to produce green hydrogen.

“Great Honour to have met President Ranil Wickremesinghe to discuss a fascinating set of projects in Sri Lanka including continued development of Colombo Port West Container Terminal, 500 MW wind project, and extending our renewal energy expertise to produce green Hydrogen," Adani tweeted.

This comes at a time when Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is on a two-day official visit to India.

The Adani Group, in August last year, was issued approval to start wind power projects in Pooneryn, in the country's northeast.

Adani Green Energy was issued provisional approval for two wind projects 286 MW in Mannar and 234 MW in Pooneryn for an investment of over $500 million.

The Adani Group's investments in Lanka's energy sector are in addition to their investment in the port of Colombo's Western container terminal.

Gautam Adani, the group's chief, met the then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa in October 2021 to push ahead with the group's investments in the country after they signed the deal to develop the Colombo port's western container terminal under the Rajapaksa presidency.

Earlier on Thursday, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar met Wickremesinghe and expressed confidence that his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

“Honoured to call on President Ranil Wickremesinghe of Sri Lanka during his India visit. Confident that his meeting with PM @narendramodi tomorrow will further strengthen our neighbourly bonds and take forward India’s Neighbourhood First and SAGAR policies," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, highlighted that Wickremesinghe's visit will strengthen the multi-faceted partnership between India and Sri Lanka. Importantly, this visit marks the first time the Sri Lankan President has travelled to India since taking office.

Arindam Bagchi on Thursday that said Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s India visit is a major one as the country has important, multifaceted relations with the island nation.