Adani Green Energy has revised the estimated cost of its 1,500 MW Maharashtra pumped-storage project from ₹5,675 crore to ₹56.75 crore, reducing its wildlife conservation deposit from ₹227 crore to ₹2.27 crore. The Centre has ordered a priority investigation.
BY PC BUREAU
The revision has also brought down the company’s proposed wildlife conservation deposit from ₹227 crore to approximately ₹2.27 crore, prompting complaints and a priority investigation ordered by the Union Environment Ministry.
The revised estimate was submitted through a notarised affidavit on September 8, 2026. Following its acceptance by the Maharashtra forest department, the company deposited ₹56.75 lakh, representing one per cent of the revised project cost. The remaining amount is payable after clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL).
The project is planned around the Tarali dam reservoir, covering 150.74 hectares of non-forest land across villages including Nivade, Tondoshi, Kalambe and Jalu in Patan taluka. However, the site falls within the buffer zone, or deemed Eco-Sensitive Zone, of the Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary, which forms part of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve.
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Under the conditions imposed by the State Board for Wildlife on February 23, 2026, projects in such areas are required to contribute four per cent of their estimated cost towards sanctuary conservation. The condition also takes into account Supreme Court directions concerning a deemed 10-km Eco-Sensitive Zone where formal notification is pending.
Adani Green Energy estimated project cost goes from 5675 crores to 56.75 crores! A 99% fall 🙂
Consequently slashing a mandated 4% contribution of 227 crore for Sahyadri Tiger Reserve to 2.275 crores.
Sharing without comments. https://t.co/YgAY6RDk8M— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) November 13, 2026
The original project estimate of ₹5,675 crore was cited in a Union Environment Ministry letter dated February 11, 2025, recommending prior environmental clearance. In March 2026, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) M. Srinivas Reddy wrote to Adani Green seeking a wildlife conservation deposit of ₹227 crore.
Adani Green’s Chief Operating Officer, Naresh Telgu, subsequently submitted an affidavit arguing that the earlier project estimate was based on an “analogous estimation”. He requested that ₹56.75 crore be accepted as the revised project cost. Reddy’s office accepted the revised figure on October 12 and asked the company to deposit the reduced initial instalment of one per cent.
The drastic revision prompted Satara Honorary Wildlife Warden Rohan Bhate to lodge a complaint on October 30 through the Prime Minister’s grievance portal and Maharashtra’s Aaple Sarkar portal. He questioned how a project initially estimated at ₹5,675 crore could be assigned a cost of just ₹56.75 crore.
Bhate described the forest department’s acceptance of the revised estimate as shocking, arguing that even a layperson would recognise that a large pumped-storage project could not realistically be executed at such a low cost. He demanded that the decision be revoked and an impartial investigation conducted.
An Adani Group spokesperson maintained that all components of the Tarali project were located on private land and that no forest land was involved. The spokesperson also argued that pumped-storage projects do not adversely affect downstream ecology, forests or wildlife during operations. Smaller water bodies created by the project could, in fact, have a positive local ecological effect by increasing humidity.
However, the spokesperson did not directly address the reasons for the substantial reduction in the estimated project cost.
Reddy, when contacted, said the company should be asked why it had submitted the revised-cost affidavit. Sahyadri Tiger Reserve Field Director Tushar Chavan confirmed that the company had deposited ₹56.75 lakh.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change stepped in on November 6, directing the Maharashtra forest department to investigate the matter on priority. The ministry noted that wildlife protection and mitigation measures primarily fell within the state’s responsibility.
The Maharashtra forest department has also initiated a separate inquiry. On November 5, the Deputy Director of Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary was asked to examine the complaint. The project is still awaiting consideration by the National Board for Wildlife.
The controversy has also drawn political attention. Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh, have described the reported reduction as a matter of “gigantic proportions” and renewed demands for a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation into the Adani Group’s operations.
The central question now is whether the revised project estimate accurately reflects the actual investment required and whether the reduction has resulted in a corresponding and justified cut in the mandatory wildlife conservation contribution.
