Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

International Holding Co’s (IHC) outlook on investments in India’s Adani Group remains unchanged, the Abu Dhabi conglomerate said following the U.S. indictment of billionaire Gautam Adani.

“Our partnership with the Adani Group reflects our confidence in their contributions to the green energy and sustainability sectors,” IHC said in a statement on Wednesday (November 27, 2024).

“As with all our investments, our team continues to evaluate relevant information and developments. At this time, our outlook on these investments remains unchanged.”

Last week, U.S. authorities accused Mr. Adani, his nephew and executive director Sagar Adani and the managing director of Adani Green, Vneet S. Jaain, of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts.

The ports-to-power conglomerate denied the charges as “baseless” and vowed to seek “all possible legal recourse”.

In October last year, IHC boosted its stake in Adani Enterprises to more than 5% after it sold down its investments in two other Adani companies. At the time, IHC said Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, was “uniquely poised to capitalise on India’s robust growth journey”.

The increased investment came after short seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate in January last year of stock manipulation and significantly high debt levels. Adani Group denied those allegations.

Adani and an IHC subsidiary last year formed a technology joint venture to create a platform to use AI and enterprise blockchain products to work on the digitisation of the Indian economy.

Adani Green, the company at the centre of the indictment, said on Wednesday Gautam Adani had been charged in the United States for alleged violations of securities law and faced potential fines but had not been charged under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In a stock exchange filing, Adani Green said a complaint by U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought “an order directing the defendants to pay civil monetary penalties (but) it does not quantify the amount of penalty”.

The civil action launched by the SEC runs in parallel to U.S. federal prosecutors’ indictment against Mr. Adani and others.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an inauguration ceremony after the Adani Group completed the purchase of Haifa Port earlier in January 2023, in Haifa port, Israel January 31, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Asserting that the relationship between India and the U.S. is built on a strong foundation, the White House has expressed confidence that it can navigate the ongoing crisis surrounding bribery charges against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.

At her daily news conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday (November 21, 2024) that the administration is aware of the charges against Mr. Adani.

Mr. Adani has been charged by U.S. prosecutors for allegedly being part of a scheme to pay over $250 million (about ₹2,100 crore) bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

“Obviously we’re aware of these allegations, and I would have to refer you to the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] and DOJ [Department of Justice] about the specifics of those allegations against the Adani Group,” she said.    

“What I will say is on the U.S. and India relationship, we believe that it stands on an extremely strong foundation anchored in ties between our people and cooperation across a full range of global issues,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.

“What we believe and we’re confident about is that we’ll continue to navigate this issue as we have with other issues that may have come up as you just stated. And so the specifics of this, this is something that the SEC and DOJ can speak to directly, but again, we believe that…this relationship between India and the U.S. has been built on a strong foundation,” the Press Secretary said.

Gautam Adani. Files
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and several of his business associates. The charges include promising more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud U.S. investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. The indictment was unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York late on November 20, 2024.

Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE updates: Adani Group denies ‘baseless’ allegations; Rahul Gandhi demands businessman’s arrest

In a parallel move, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani (Gautam’s nephew and head of Adani Green Energy), along with Cyril Cabanes, a top executive of Azure Power Global Limited, (a New Delhi-headquartered renewable energy company that used to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange), with a massive bribery scheme involving Adani Green and Azure Power.

While the Department of Justice’s indictment constitutes a criminal case, the SEC’s is a civil complaint and if proved, could result in a “permanent injunction, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar”. The SEC’s complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Gautam Adani indicted in US: What do we know so far?

Reacting to these developments, Adani Green Energy Limited has withdrawn its proposed $600 million U.S. dollar denominated bond offering. Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday (November 21, 2024.)

What does the indictment say?

The indictment concerns the actions of the defendants between 2020 and 2024. The defendants are Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy, Vneet S. Jaain, former CEO of Adani Green Energy, Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global, Cyril Cabanes, a former managing director at CDPQ, a Canadian pension fund which is also a majority stockholder of Azure Power, Saurabh Agarwal, former managing director of CDPQ India, Deepak Malhotra, former executive of CDPQ, and Rupesh Agarwal, former CEO of Azure Power.

Under the U.S.’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 (FCPA), it is unlawful to make payments to foreign government officials in a bid to obtain or retain business. It is also a criminal offence to raise money by misleading investors about key corporate governance practices, which this case concerns compliance with the FCPA. Further, it is unlawful to obstruct federal investigations by giving false information and destroying evidence such as electronic communications. It is also a separate offence to hide the authorisation of bribery practices in company annual reports. The defendants have been charged with offences on all these counts.

Allegations and scandals against the Adani Group: A timeline

According to the indictment, starting in 2020, the defendants authorised and collaborated on a scheme to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure solar power purchase contracts for Adani Green Energy and Azure Power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a company of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy whose mission is to increase the use of renewable-energy in India.

The U.S. DoJ indictment has alleged that the Adanis resorted to a bribery scheme because SECI was unable to find buyers among State distribution companies (discoms) for the Adanis’ solar power, whose price was above market rates. But many State discoms did subsequently sign sale agreements with SECI to buy the Adanis’ more expensive renewable power.

The indictment notes that “following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials — between July 2021 and February 2022 — electricity distribution companies for the States and regions of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh entered into PSAs [Power Sale Agreements) with SECI”. Further, “Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021” after which the State agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power, by far the largest amount of any Indian State or region.”

And then, to fund the operations of Adani Green Energy and its subsidiaries, the defendants committed securities fraud and wire fraud (any fraud that uses electronic communications through the U.S.) by hiding their FCPA violations to obtain bank loans worth more than $2 billion from international financial institutions and U.S.-based asset management companies. Also, by “offering more than $1 billion in securities” that were marketed and sold to investors in the U.S., Adani Green Energy and its directors “relied on the United States’ financial system to perpetrate this fraudulent scheme by….causing wires to be sent and received that passed through the United States.”

Adani indictment in U.S. vindicates demand for JPC probe, says Congress

The Adani Group has denied the allegations of the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, terming them “baseless”. In a statement, a spokesperson for the conglomerate said, “As stated by the U.S. Department of Justice itself, ‘the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.’ All possible legal recourse will be sought. The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.”

Gautam Adani. Files
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has issued a five-count criminal indictment of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, and several of his business associates. The charges include promising more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts, conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud, and orchestrating “a multi-billion dollar scheme” to defraud U.S. investors and global financial institutions by giving “false and misleading statements”. The indictment was unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York late on November 20, 2024.

Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE updates: Adani Group denies ‘baseless’ allegations; Rahul Gandhi demands businessman’s arrest

In a parallel move, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani (Gautam’s nephew and head of Adani Green Energy), along with Cyril Cabanes, a top executive of Azure Power Global Limited, (a New Delhi-headquartered renewable energy company that used to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange), with a massive bribery scheme involving Adani Green and Azure Power.

While the Department of Justice’s indictment constitutes a criminal case, the SEC’s is a civil complaint and if proved, could result in a “permanent injunction, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar”. The SEC’s complaints were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Reacting to these developments, Adani Green Energy Limited has withdrawn its proposed $600 million U.S. dollar denominated bond offering. Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday (November 21, 2024.)

What does the indictment say?

The indictment concerns the actions of the defendants between 2020 and 2024. The defendants are Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Executive Director of Adani Green Energy, Vneet S. Jaain, former CEO of Adani Green Energy, Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global, Cyril Cabanes, a former managing director at CDPQ, a Canadian pension fund which is also a majority stockholder of Azure Power, Saurabh Agarwal, former managing director of CDPQ India, Deepak Malhotra, former executive of CDPQ, and Rupesh Agarwal, former CEO of Azure Power.

Under the U.S.’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 1977 (FCPA), it is unlawful to make payments to foreign government officials in a bid to obtain or retain business. It is also a criminal offence to raise money by misleading investors about key corporate governance practices, which this case concerns compliance with the FCPA. Further, it is unlawful to obstruct federal investigations by giving false information and destroying evidence such as electronic communications. It is also a separate offence to hide the authorisation of bribery practices in company annual reports. The defendants have been charged with offences on all these counts.

Allegations and scandals against the Adani Group: A timeline

According to the indictment, starting in 2020, the defendants authorised and collaborated on a scheme to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure solar power purchase contracts for Adani Green Energy and Azure Power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a company of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy whose mission is to increase the use of renewable-energy in India.

The U.S. DoJ indictment has alleged that the Adanis resorted to a bribery scheme because SECI was unable to find buyers among State distribution companies (discoms) for the Adanis’ solar power, whose price was above market rates. But many State discoms did subsequently sign sale agreements with SECI to buy the Adanis’ more expensive renewable power.

The indictment notes that “following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials — between July 2021 and February 2022 — electricity distribution companies for the States and regions of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh entered into PSAs [Power Sale Agreements) with SECI”. Further, “Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021” after which the State agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power, by far the largest amount of any Indian State or region.”

And then, to fund the operations of Adani Green Energy and its subsidiaries, the defendants committed securities fraud and wire fraud (any fraud that uses electronic communications through the U.S.) by hiding their FCPA violations to obtain bank loans worth more than $2 billion from international financial institutions and U.S.-based asset management companies. Also, by “offering more than $1 billion in securities” that were marketed and sold to investors in the U.S., Adani Green Energy and its directors “relied on the United States’ financial system to perpetrate this fraudulent scheme by….causing wires to be sent and received that passed through the United States.”

Adani indictment in U.S. vindicates demand for JPC probe, says Congress

The Adani Group has denied the allegations of the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC, terming them “baseless”. In a statement, a spokesperson for the conglomerate said, “As stated by the U.S. Department of Justice itself, ‘the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.’ All possible legal recourse will be sought. The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations.”

Adani Group’s plunged up to 20% on Thursday after he was indicted by U.S. prosecutors on charges he duped investors in a solar energy project in India by concealing that it was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme.

In an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors in New York on Wednesday (November 20, 2024), Gautam Adani, 62, was charged with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud.

Also read: Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE 

The flagship company Adani Enterprises witnessed a sharp decline of 20% in its share value, while Adani Energy Solutions experienced an identical drop. Adani Green Energy saw a reduction of 19.17%, Adani Total Gas decreased by 18.14%, Adani Power fell by 17.79%, and Adani Ports registered a 15% decline on the BSE.

Adani Enterprises

Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) is a multinational publicly-listed holding company and a part of Adani Group. Through its various subsidiaries, Adani Enterprises is involved in edible oils and staple foods, airport operations, solar PV manufacturing, road infrastructure, among several other sectors.

Adani Green Energy

Adani Green Energy Limited is one of the largest renewable companies in India, with a current project portfolio of 20,434 MW. The company operates Kamuthi Solar Power Project, one of the largest solar photovoltaic plants in the world.

Adani Power Limited

Adani Power Limited, a part of the diversified Adani Group, is the largest private thermal power producer in India. APL possesses a power generation capacity of 15,250 MW comprising thermal power plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and a 40 MW solar power project in Gujarat.

Adani Total Gas

A joint venture between Adani Energy Solutions (37.4%) and UK’s Total Energies formed in 2005, Adani Total Gas Limited is among the four biggest distributors of municipal gas in India. It operates in 34 geographical areas and another 19 through a joint venture with Indian Oil. It also focuses on CNG, biogas, and EV mobility.

Adani Transmission

Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Adani transmission is one of India’s largest private sector electric power transmission companies.

Adani Wilmar

A multinational FMCG joint venture between Adani Enterprises (44%) and Singapore’s Wilmar International (44%) formed in 1999. It deals in the processing and sale of a variety of edible oils, flour, rice and more through brands like Fortune Foods which is also exported to the Middle East, South-East Asia, and Africa. Recently, Adani Enterprises cancelled a demerger of its stake in the venture until the venture meets public shareholding norms first.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is the largest commercial ports operator in India accounting for nearly one-fourth of the cargo movement in the country. Its presence across 13 domestic ports in seven maritime states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

ACC

Formerly known as The Associated Cement Companies Limited, it was a merger of eleven cement companies — belonging to industrialists like JRD Tata, Ambala Sarabhai and so on — into a single entity in 1936. The management control of the company was taken over by Swiss cement manufacturer Holcim Group in 2004. In 2022, Adani Group acquired Holcim’s stake in ACC.

Ambuja Cements

Formerly known as Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited, it is a cement manufacturing formed in 1983. It entered into a strategic partnership with Holcim Group in 2006, which then had a controlling stake of 61.62% in Ambuja from 2010 to 2022. When Holcim left the Indian market, Adani Group acquired it’s stake.

NDTV

Share market data from The Hindu Businessline

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. File photo
| Photo Credit: PTI

Following the Gautam Adani’s indictment in the U.S. over an alleged multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme, a New York judge has issued a warrant for Mr . Adani’s arrest, media reports said.

Gautam Adani U.S. indictment LIVE updates: Adani dollar bonds tumble after 250 million bribery scheme

According to ABC News, quoting court records, the arrest warant will be given to foreign law enforcement authories.

Earlier, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged billionaire Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, with allegedly defrauding American investors and bribing officials. The SEC alleged that the bribery scheme was orchestrated to enable renewable energy companies Adani Green and Azure Power to capitalise on a multi-billion-dollar solar energy project awarded by the Indian government

More details are awaited.