Kenyan court suspends Adani Group power line agreement

In a major setback for billionaire Gautam Adani, the Kenyan high court on Friday ordered the suspension of a $736 million deal between the state-owned Kenya Electrical Transmission Company (KETRACO) and Adani Group’s Adani Energy Solutions to o build and operate power infrastructure including transmission lines.

The deal between Adani Group and KETRACO had been challenged by the Law Society of Kenya in the high court, which ruled that the Kenyan government could not move ahead the 30-year agreement with Adani Energy Solutions until the court makes a determination on the case.

The law society has argued that the power deal between Adani Power and the state-owned utility is “a constitutional sham” and “tainted with secrecy”. It also claimed that KETRACO and Adani Energy Solutions did not carry out meaningful public participation around the project, a requirement under Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Act of 2021 which allows private sector development of public projects.