Two successive AP governments from rival parties agreed on exactly one thing: tribal constitutional protections are optional when Adani is on the phone. 38 projects, zero competitive bids, zero Gram Sabha consultations.
Andhra Pradesh holds India's highest pumped storage potential at 44 GW, and successive governments have treated it like a clearance sale. The previous YSRCP government handed sites to the Adani Group via 'nomination' — bureaucrat-speak for skipping competitive bidding entirely. The current TDP-JanaSena government, despite campaigning against exactly this, continued the tradition, awarding sites to Navayuga Group and Chinta Green Energy through the same back door. Several sites sit in Scheduled Areas where the Constitution mandates Gram Sabha (tribal council) consent before any land use. Those consultations were 'blatantly bypassed,' per former Union Secretary EAS Sarma, violating both PESA and the Forest Rights Act. The Supreme Court's Samata judgment explicitly bars private land alienation in these areas. Total allocated so far: 19.83 GW across 38 projects. Adani already had two cancelled over border disputes. Sarma has written to the Cabinet Secretary demanding a central probe, comparing the scale to the 2G and Coalgate scams.