AHMEDABAD: Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) on Friday vehemently denied allegations that it lowered the cost of the Tarali pumped storage project (PSP) in Maharashtra in order to diminish statutory obligations.

In a statement, a company spokesperson said that the allegation that the company sought to revise project costs downwards to diminish statutory obligations is “completely misleading”.

The spokesperson said that the online proposal in the forest/wildlife portal was solely for site investigation purposes, while the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) considered total project costs of Rs 5,675 crore.

“Since site investigation costs are around 1 per cent of project costs, therefore clarification of the project Rs 56.75 crore representing solely the site investigations and survey costs, for the online proposal was provided,” the Adani Group company spokesperson said.

Secondly, the allegation that downward revision was intended to lower conservation costs is false, according to the spokesperson.

“The Tarali PSP is situated entirely on private, non-forest land and 3.2 kms away from the Koyna wildlife sanctuary. It is outside the notified buffer zone of Sahyadri Tiger reserve and in no way impacts or fringes upon the tiger corridor or any notified Eco-Sensitive zone (ESZ). The project does not cause diversion of any protected areas, any reserve forest or notified ESZ,” the Adani Green Energy spokesperson explained.

The reports earlier claimed that Adani Green Energy reduced the declared cost of its 1,500-MW Tarali pumped storage project in Maharashtra. The company rejected allegations that the downward revision was intended to reduce conservation-related costs.