(Reuters) – India’s Reliance Power said on Thursday that it will legally challenge a three-year ban by the country’s top renewable energy agency from participating in its clean energy project tenders.
Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) said on Wednesday that it had banned Reliance Power and its units after the state-owned agency found the endorsement of a bank guarantee to be fake while scrutinising a bid for a tender.
The ban comes as Reliance Power, a coal power generator, is looking to expand into the domestic and overseas renewable energy sector.
“The Company and its subsidiaries acted bonafidely and have been a victim of fraud, forgery and cheating conspiracy,” Reliance Power said in a statement.
The company, run by Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, said it had already lodged a complaint against the third party that arranged the bank guarantee with the economic offence wing of the Delhi Police. It did not name the third party.
Indian companies are increasingly looking to set up clean energy projects as the country targets 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 as part of its 2070 net zero goal, up from the current installed capacity of about 154 GW.
In August, Anil Ambani was banned from the securities market for five years and fined about $3 million by the Indian markets regulator on charges of diversion of funds.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
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