Sacked SECI CMD Retd Gujarat Cadre IAS R P Gupta was witnessed of Adani Group Since its beginning in Kutch

Tushar Maheswari.Bhuj (kutch) : The recent termination of retired Gujarat Cadre IAS officer Rameshwar Prasad Gupta (IAS R P Gupta) as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has sparked renewed interest in his career and potential ties to the Adani Group, a conglomerate under scrutiny for alleged bribery in solar power contracts. While IAS Gupta’s tenure as a Gujarat cadre officer and his recent role at SECI provide context, no direct evidence explicitly links him to facilitating the Adani Group’s growth during his earlier roles, including as District Collector of Kachchh. However, his administrative positions and the timing of his SECI dismissal raise questions about his indirect connections to the Adani Group’s operations.

Gupta’s Career and Kachchh Tenure : R.P. Gupta, a 1987-batch Retd IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, held various field assignments early in his career, including as District Collector of Kutch District of Gujarat State, likely in the mid-to-late 1990s (estimated 1995–1998, based on career progression). As Kutch Collector, Gupta oversaw land acquisition, regulatory approvals, and coordination with state policies in Kutch, a region pivotal to the Adani Group’s growth. During this period, the Adani Group, led by Gautam Adani, began developing Mundra Port in 1995, a project that evolved into India’s largest private port and a cornerstone of the conglomerate’s logistics and infrastructure empire.

The Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) required extensive land acquisition and administrative clearances, processes typically managed by the District Collector’s office. Gupta’s efforts to digitize land records and synchronize them with satellite imagery, as noted in his later career, may have streamlined such processes in Kutch. While this could have indirectly supported large-scale projects like Mundra, no specific actions by Gupta are documented as directly benefiting the Adani Group. The Adani Group’s growth in Kachchh is more explicitly tied to its close partnership with the Gujarat state government under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly during Narendra Modi’s tenure as Chief Minister.

Gupta’s Role at SECI and Adani Controversies : IAS Gupta’s more recent role as SECI CMD, starting in June 2023, brought him into the spotlight amid controversies involving the Adani Group. SECI, a key public sector entity under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy - MNRE of Govt of India, facilitates solar power contracts, including those linked to Adani Green Energy. In November 2024, U.S. prosecutors indicted Gautam Adani and other executives, alleging a $250 million bribery scheme to secure favorable power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar projects in Andhra Pradesh, involving SECI contracts. Gupta, as SECI CMD, told Mint that SECI would not review the U.S. order or initiate a probe, stating there was “no basis” for such action. This stance drew attention, as SECI was indirectly implicated in the contracts under scrutiny.

Gupta’s termination on May 12, 2025, by the central government, with immediate effect and no stated reason, fueled speculation about his handling of the Adani-related allegations. Business Standard noted that SECI faced multiple controversies during Gupta’s tenure, including issues with Adani, JSW, and Reliance Power, such as the submission of invalid bid documents by Reliance Power in a renewable energy tender. The timing of Gupta’s dismissal, shortly after the U.S. indictment and amid political pressure in India, suggests possible connections to the Adani case, though no official link has been confirmed.

Indirect Connections and Political Context : The Adani Group’s rise in Gujarat, particularly in Kutch, coincided with Gupta’s administrative roles in the state, but direct evidence of his involvement is absent. The conglomerate’s Mundra Port and SEZ benefited from Gujarat’s investor-friendly policies, which Gupta, as a senior IAS officer, would have helped implement. His later roles, including as Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (until 2021), also intersected with sectors relevant to Adani’s operations, such as environmental clearances for infrastructure and energy projects. However, no allegations of impropriety have been leveled against IAS Gupta in these capacities.

The political context adds complexity. The Adani Group’s alleged bribery scheme has drawn criticism from opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding Gautam Adani. Gupta’s Gujarat cadre background and his SECI role place him within a broader narrative of administrative and political support for Adani’s ventures, though this remains speculative without concrete evidence. The U.S. pause on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement, ordered by President Donald Trump in February 2025, has also boosted Adani Group stocks, potentially easing pressure on related investigations, including those tangentially involving SECI.

Gupta’s Legacy and Ongoing Questions : IAS R.P. Gupta’s career reflects a mix of administrative innovation and controversy. His work on land record digitization and energy policy earned praise, but his abrupt SECI exit has cast a shadow. While no direct evidence ties Gupta to the Adani Group’s development in Kachchh or elsewhere, his roles as Kachchh Collector and SECI CMD align temporally and functionally with Adani’s key projects. The lack of transparency in his termination and SECI’s entanglement in the U.S. bribery case keep questions alive about his indirect influence.

As investigations into the Adani Group continue, both in the U.S. and India, Gupta’s legacy as a retired IAS officer remains under scrutiny. For now, the connection between Gupta and the Adani Group is circumstantial, rooted in his administrative roles rather than proven collusion. Further disclosures from SECI or U.S. courts may clarify whether Gupta’s actions or inactions played a role in the Adani saga.