Adani Electricity: R-Infra Claims 'Afterthoughts', Based On Untenable Positions

Adani Transmission on Monday issued a statement in relation to arbitration dispute with Reliance Infrastructure Ltd.

Adani Electricity is following the due process laid out under the SPA for dispute resolution, the company said

Adani Transmission (ATL) on Monday said that the claims of Reliance Infrastructure against it in connection with an arbitration dispute were "afterthoughts and based on untenable positions". The statement by Adani Transmission came after Reliance Infra filed an arbitration claim of Rs 13,400 crore in relation to a deal to sell its Mumbai power-distribution business to Adani Transmission Ltd.

"ATL/Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) is following the due process laid out under the SPA for dispute resolution and will respond with facts and present its own claims against R-Infra in the arbitration proceedings," ATL stated in a clarification to the BSE stock exchange.

In a statement, ATL stated that R-Infra, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, initiated arbitration on one specific dispute under the Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) in December 2021.

READ | India's Retail Inflation Rises Back To 7 Per Cent In August After Falling For 3 Months: Govt Data

"This was a claim for Rs 500 crore. Following due process, ATL/Adani Electricity rejected the R-Infra claim," it stated.

In addition, ATL/Adani Electricity submitted that R-Infra had not yet settled AEML's significantly larger claims under the SPA.

This year, in February and August, R-Infra filed supplementary arbitration requests, raising additional disputes and claims, it stated.

"In our view, these (claims) are afterthoughts and based on untenable positions," it stated.

In August 2018, Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) had completed the transaction to sell its energy business in Mumbai, including generation, distribution and transmission, to ATL for Rs 18,800 crore, PTI reported.

According to a Bloomberg report, Reliance cited a breach in the terms of a December 2017 agreement, and filed its statement of claim before the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration, according to a stock exchange filing.

"The financial implication cannot be ascertained and is contingent upon the final outcome of arbitration and subsequent legal challenges," Reliance said.