New Delhi: While Indian government agencies have been conspicuously silent on the US Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges of bribery against Gautam Adani and other top officials of the group bearing his name, there has been some degree of fallout across the world.
The US attorney’s office said on November 21 (Indian time) that Adani is accused of personally being involved in the scheme to bribe Indian officials between 2020 to 2024 to further the prospects of his solar initiative.
The Adani Group has claimed that the charges are baseless.
Market value loss
Since the news broke, the 10 listed entities of the group have lost about $33 billion in market value, Reuters has reported, with Adani Green the hardest hit, losing about $9.7 billion in market value.
Andhra mulls cancelling contract
Andhra Pradesh, the state at the centre of the bribery allegations, is considering cancelling the power contract with Adani.
The US indictment alleges that most of the bribes were paid to a highly placed state government official to smoothen the process of state electricity distribution companies agreeing to purchase solar power from the Adani Group. The indictment notes that this unnamed official was a citizen of India who resided in India. “From approximately May 2019 through June 2024, Foreign Official #1 served as a high-ranking government official of Andhra Pradesh, India,” it said. In June 2024, Andhra Pradesh saw a change in government, with Jaganmohan Reddy being voted out of power and Chandrababu Naidu being elected chief minister.
The indictment alleges that Gautam Adani himself was personally involved in talks in which “more than $250 million was promised in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.”
The YSR Congress Party of Jaganmohan Reddy has claimed that there are no direct agreements between Andhra Pradesh DISCOMs and the Adani Group.
The Telegraph has reported, quoting sources, that the Chandrababu Naidu government will ask the Union government and the Solar Energy Corporation of India, which awards power supply contracts to companies like Adani, to investigate the charges.
Kenya cancels all deals, including airport takeover
As The Wire has reported, one of the first reactions was the announcement from Kenyan President William Ruto on November 21, notifying the world of the immediate cancellation of all infrastructure deals with the Adani Group, including its controversial takeover of the Jomo Kenyatta International airport over which there had been significant outrage in the lead up to the announcement.
The Kenyan president emphasised along with his announcement that tackling corruption would be a top priority for his government.
US agency re-examines Sri Lanka port funding
By November 25, again as reported by The Wire, the US International Development Finance Corp had begun re-examining its decision to lend $553 million to a Sri Lankan port project backed by the Adani Group.
An official from the agency stated that they are “actively assessing the ramifications” of the allegations.
French oil major suspends investments
French oil major TotalEnergies has announced that it will suspend additional investments in Adani Group companies until the allegations are resolved. The figures of the Paris-based giant’s involvement in the Adani Group are unknown but it has been quoted as having said, “Until such time when the accusations against the Adani group individuals and their consequences have been clarified, TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contribution as part of its investments in the Adani group of companies.”
The company has a 20% stake in Adani Green Energy Limited and a seat on its board.
Reuters has it that shares of Adani Green Energy slipped more than 11% after TotalEnergies’ statement. Shares of Adani Total Gas, in which TotalEnergies holds 37.4%, closed down 1.4%.
Bangladesh reviews power agreements
Bangladesh’s caretaker government under Mohammad Yunus has formed a review committee that has recommended engaging an investigation agency to examine power agreements signed by government of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, including the one with Adani Power.
The National Review Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has recommended the appointment of a reputed legal and investigation agency to review the big power production agreements under Hasina, between 2009 and 2024.
Among the seven major energy and power projects that the committee is seeing is the one under which power generated by the Godda coal plant is bought by Dhaka – a plan has been at the centre of controversy since its inception.
As The Wire noted in its report, experts had said that Dhaka was buying power at an exorbitant price while political parties in Bangladesh had called it an “extremely uneven deal signed with an ulterior motive”.
Japanese firms release details of exposure
At least four Japanese firms – the Tokyo-based financial services firm SBI Holdings, asset management firm Nissay Asset Management, financial holding company Nomura Holdings, and asset managing firm Daiwa Asset Management – have released details of their mutual funds’ exposure to securities in the Adani Group companies.
Bloomberg has reported that the exposures for SBI’s mutual funds range from 0.21% to 2.55%, while those for Nissay’s are from 0.02% to 0.24%. Nomura Asset Management and Daiwa Asset Management
