Gautam Adani Indictment Highlights: Adani stocks crash nearly 25%, Group denies US authorities allegations of bribery

Kenya’s president said Thursday he has cancelled multimillion-dollar airport expansion and energy deals with Indian tycoon Gautam Adani after US bribery and fraud indictments against one of Asia’s richest men.

President William Ruto in a state of the nation address said the decision was made “based on new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations.” He didn’t specify the United States.

The Adani group had been in the process of signing an agreement that would modernize Kenya’s main airport in the capital, Nairobi, with an additional runway and terminal constructed, in exchange for the group running the airport for 30 years.

The widely criticised deal had sparked anti-Adani protests in Kenya and a strike by airport workers, who said it would lead to degraded working conditions and job losses in some cases.

The Adani group had also been awarded a deal to construct power transmission lines in Kenya, East Africa’s business hub.

On Chhattisgarh link in Adani matter, Congress leader & former CM Bhupesh Baghel says, “I support demand for JPC in Adani matter by Rahul Gandhi...There is no matter relating to my tenure as CM between 2020-2023. If there was any deal between the new govt in the state and Adani, then I don’t know about it...Korba Waste Power Plant, Raigarh, GMR Power Plant, Raipur and Lenco Power Plant, Korba were given to Adani Group by the Centre and due to this banks had to suffer losses. The agreement with Chhattisgarh Electricity Board was done during the tenure of Raman Singh. Sambit Patra (BJP MP) is making allegations against his own govts.”

Adani Group would defend itself and the law will take its own course, says BJP MP Sambit Patra

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Thursday asserted that Tamil Nadu government run electricity corporation has no commercial relationship with Gautam Adani’s company and that the state has an understanding to buy power only from a Central government firm.

Billionaire Gautam Adani and the group he chairs is not new to controversy and disputes.

Here are some major disputes involving Adani and the group he chairs.

Market experienced significant turbulence on Thursday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closing lower amid a dramatic selloff triggered by the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.The Sensex closed at 77,155.79, down 422.59 points or 0.54 per cent, while the Nifty 50 declined 168.60 points or 0.72 per cent to 23,349.90.

The market’s downturn was multifaceted, driven by escalating geopolitical tensions and the sudden legal challenges facing the Adani Group.

Kenyan President William Ruto said on November 21 that he had ordered the cancellation of the procurement process to expand the country’s main airport, in which the government was considering a proposal by the Adani Group.

Ruto was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying that he had also directed the cancellation of a more than $700 million deal the energy ministry had signed with a unit of the Adani Group to construct power transmission lines.

National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) holds a protest against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani after the US prosecutors charged him and others in the alleged Solar Energy contract bribery case.

Investors’ wealth plummeted ₹5.27 lakh crore on November 21 in line with markets fall following a sharp decline in Adani group stocks.

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 422.59 points or 0.54 percent to settle at 77,155.79. During the day, it lost 775.65 points or 0.99 percent to 76,802.73

With the Adani Group purchasing land near the “sacred” Gandhamardhan hills in Odisha, the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress demanded clarification on whether the company has any plan to go for mining in that region.

The Adani Group, however, said the purpose for land acquisition is to enrich the local ecology through afforestation and there is no commercial intent.

Read more here.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji on Thursday asserted that Tamil Nadu government run electricity corporation has no commercial relationship with Gautam Adani’s company and that the state has an understanding to buy power only from a Central government firm.

Read more here.

BJP MP Sambit Patra on Thursday said that none of the four states mentioned in the US charges against Adani Group had a BJP CM as Congress and its allies were in power in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu.

According to the charges made against the Adani Group in US, government officials were ‘bribed’ in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh between July 2021 and February 2022.

Watch here.

CPI(M) leader Hannan Mollah on Thursday called Gautam Adani a “dishonest businessman” who reached the top with the help of “political power”.

TMC MP Sagarika Ghose on Thursday demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the charges by US prosecutors against billionaire Gautam Adani.

Watch here.

Rahul Gandhi (Lok Sabha Lop & Congress MP) Press Conference on US prosecutors charging Gautam Adani and others in alleged Solar Energy contract bribery case.

Watch here.

From the Hindenburg Research allegations and the Dharavi redevelopment project protests to troubles in Kenya, Bangladesh and Myanmar, Gautam Adani and the Adani group is not new to controversy and disputes.

Read about some of the major disputes involving Adani and Adani group. 

• ​Adani Enterprises​ (-23.44%)
• Adani Energy Solutions (-20%)
• ​Adani Green​ Energy (-18.95%)
• ​Adani Ports​ & SEZ (-13.23%)
• ​Ambuja Cement​ (-12.66%)
• ​Adani Total Gas​ (-10.38%)
• ​Adani Power​ (-9.62%)
• ​Adani Wilmar​ (-10%)
• ​ACC ​(-7.99%)
• NDTV (0.18%) - flat

(NSE data)

(NSE data)

Firms of India’s Adani Group conglomerate lost as much as $34 billion in market value on Thursday after U.S. prosecutors charged its billionaire chairman in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani’s flagship Adani Enterprises tumbled as much as 23% to its lowest since Nov. 2023 for its worst one-day drop since February last year.

Other group firms - Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas , Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV - also fell between 6% and 19%.

The sharp selloff took down the total market capitalisation of the 10 Adani-backed companies to about $147 billion by 0854 GMT, from $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

“Normally investors do not like any lapse of corporate governance and till the time there is clarification, investors will shy away from Adani group stocks,” said Saurabh Jain, a retail equities analyst at SMC Global Securities.

In a statement, Adani Group dismissed the accusations as “baseless and denied”, and vowed to seek “all possible legal recourse”

Input from Reuters

Addressing a press conference hours after the US prosecutors charged Adani and associates for allegedly paying $250 million bribes to Indian officials to get the solar contract in Andhra Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi said it is now pretty clear and established in the US that the businessman has broken Indian as well as American laws.

“He has been indicted in the US. I am wondering why Mr Adani is running around a free man in this country. CMs have been arrested.. Adani has done apparently ₹2000 crore scam and multiple others probably but he is running scot-free...,” Rahul Gandhi told reporters.

bl New Delhi Bureau reports | ​Read here​

• Adani Energy Solutions (-20%)
• Adani Enterprises (-21.09%)
• Adani Green Energy (-17.24%)
• Adani Ports & SEZ (-12.55%)
• Adani Total Gas (-10.58%)
• Adani Power (-9.05%)
• Adani Wilmar (-10%)
• Ambuja Cement (-10.54%)
• ACC (-6.76%)
• NDTV (-3.48%)

(NSE data as at 2.58 pm)

U.S. laws allow for settlements in bribery cases, governed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, often through Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) or Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPAs), said Narinder Wadhwa, Managing Director, SKI Capital in a note.

bl Mumbai Bureau | Read here

(Source: X/@PTI_News)

The indictment also charges Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal, former executives of a renewable-energy company with securities that had traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra. Here is a brief profile of these individuals named in the report.

Story by Avinash Nair of businessline

Meet those seven individuals | Read here

Adani used his cellular phone to track specific details of the bribes offered and promised to government officials (Bribe Notes). The Bribe Notes identified: (i) the state or region for which government officials had been offered a bribe; (ii) the total amount of the offered bribe; and (iii) the approximate amount of solar power the state or region would agree to purchase in exchange for the bribe. In most instances, the Bribe Notes also identified the per megawatt rate for the total bribe amount offered, the abbreviated titles of the government officials who would receive the bribes, and/or the allocation of the total bribe amount among government officials within each state and region.

bl Explainer | Read here

• Gautam Adani, 7 others indicted for alleged $250 million bribery case in US - Read here
• Adani Green Energy withdraws US dollar bond offering plan - Read here
• Timeline of charges against Adani that began with the Hindenburg allegation of 2023 - Read here
• US charges against Gautam Adani - Read here
• Around ₹2.6 lakh crore of investor wealth wiped out in Adani stocks as Adani, others indicted by US authorities - Read here
• Adani Group loses $22 billion in market value after US indictments - Read here
• Adani bribery case: AP Govt officials `received’ $200 million bribes for power supply deal in 2021, says indictment - Read here
• Congress renews JPC demand over Adani’s indictment by US court in bribery scandal - Read here

Vedanta Resources Ltd., controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, is reassessing timing for a potential sale of dollar bonds, after a US indictment of the founder of separate conglomerate Adani Group fueled market volatility, people familiar with the matter said. 

Bloomberg input

• Adani Energy Solutions (-19.60%)
• Adani Enterprises (-19.05%)
• Adani Green Energy (-17.04%)
• Adani Ports & SEZ (-12.19%)
• Adani Total Gas (-9.68%)
• Adani Power (-7.44%)
• Adani Wilmar (-9.87%)
• Ambuja Cement (-9.68%)
• ACC (-6.72%)
• NDTV (-3.17%)

(NSE data as at 2.18 pm)

The Adani Group and its executives face serious allegations under U.S. laws, including bribery and fraud tied to securing energy contracts. These charges, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), claim that Adani executives promised $250 million in bribes to Indian officials. The market reaction has been severe, with Adani stocks plummeting 10-20%, erasing over ₹2 lakhcrore from its market capitalization, and its dollar-denominated bonds seeing sharp declines .

Adani’s Response and Withdrawal of Bond Issuance In light of the allegations, Adani Enterprises has withdrawn a proposal to issue U.S. dollar denominated bonds. This move reflects immediate financial repercussions, as the group faces growing challenges in accessing global capital markets amid heightened scrutiny. Such withdrawals indicate a defensive posture as the group focuses on mitigating damage .

Potential Settlement Path:

U.S. laws allow for settlements in bribery cases, often through Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) or Non-Prosecution Agreements (NPAs). Companies can resolve charges by paying fines, admitting certain wrongdoing, and improving compliance practices. Notable precedents, like Siemens ($800 million) and Ericsson ($1 billion), suggest Adani may pursue a settlement to cap reputational and financial losses.

Settlements typically involve:

* Substantial monetary penalties.

* Enhanced compliance measures and independent monitoring.

* Limited future restrictions, such as reduced access to U.S. funding.

Broader Implications:

1. For Adani Group: Settling could stabilize investor sentiment but may still impose significant financial and reputational costs. Future capital-raising efforts, especially internationally, could remain challenging.

2. For India: The case highlights governance concerns in large conglomerates but also offers an opportunity to reinforce regulatory oversight. Prompt resolution might reassure investors about India’s commitment to addressing corporate malpractices. Adani’s initial defensive stance is likely a strategy to assess the strength of evidence while preparing for negotiations. A settlement, while costly, could provide a pragmatic path forward if the charges hold strong.

- Narinder Wadhwa, Managing Director, SKI Capital on US authorities indictment of Adani

​​The Adani group​​ said in a statement that the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green were “baseless and denied”.

A spokesman for the group said that as stated by the US 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. We assure our stakeholders, partners and employees that we are a law-abiding organisation, fully compliant with all laws,” the statement said.

US authorities have indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and others in a $265 million bribery case in India pertaining to solar energy contracts. 

bl Mumbai Bureau writes | ​​Read here​​

Adani Group Spokesperson says, “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied. As stated by the US 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 documents released by the US Department of Justice showed that the seven individuals named in the alleged bribery case used code names while communicating with each other.

While communicating with each other they referred Gautam Adani as “SAG,” “Mr A,” “Numero uno” and “the big man,” and referred to Jaain as “V,” “snake” and “Numero uno minus one.”

On or about April 25, 2022, Gautam Adani , Jaain, Gupta among others were scheduled to meet in New Delhi to discuss the Bribery Scheme.

bl Mumbai Bureau writes | Read here

• Adani Energy Solutions (-20%)
• ​Adani Enterprises​ (-18.80%)
• ​Adani Green​ Energy (-17.54%)
• ​Adani Ports​ & SEZ (-12.38%)
• ​Adani Total Gas​ (-12.17%)
• ​Adani Power​ (-11.06%)
• ​Adani Wilmar​ (-10%)
• ​Ambuja Cement​ (-10.24%)
• ​ACC ​(-7.14%)
• NDTV (-7.90%)

Adani group stocks emerged as significant market laggards. Adani Enterprises plummeted 19.37 per cent, while Adani Ports witnessed a steep decline of 15.64 per cent. Other notable losers included State Bank of India (SBI) at -2.86 per cent, SBI Life at -2.57 per cent, and Britannia at -2.35 per cent.

bl brings you today’s mid-market report | Read here

A judge has issued arrest warrants for Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and prosecutors plan to hand those warrants to foreign law enforcement, court records show.

Prosecutors also said the Adanis and another executive at Adani Green Energy, former CEO Vneet Jaain, raised more than $3 billion in loans and bonds by hiding their corruption from lenders and investors.

Reuters report | ​Read here​

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of industrialist Gautam Adani after the billionaire industrialist was charges in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Addressing a press conference here hours after the US prosecutors charged Adani and associates for allegedly paying USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials, the Congress leader said it is now pretty clear and established in the US that the businessman has broken Indian as well as American laws.

The Adani group has not yet reacted to the charges.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Ek hain to safe hain’ slogan, Gandhi said that as long as the prime minister and Adani are together, they are safe in India.

He said Adani should be arrested immediately and interrogated, and his “protector” and Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch should be removed from her post probed.

Gandhi further said he will raise the issue during the Winter session of Parliament beginning Monday.

He also said the demand of the opposition for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe stands.

“I can guarantee that Adani won’t be arrested or investigated in India because the Modi government was protecting him,” Gandhi alleged.

PTI input

Fresh troubles at the Adani Group are posing a threat to US-based GQG Partners LLC, which took a contrarian bet on the conglomerate after a short-seller attack last year. 

US prosecutors’ bribery charges against billionaire Gautam Adani and his executives saw the group’s stocks tumble Thursday. GQG Partners, whose investment in the group has ballooned to $10 billion, said it is monitoring the charges. 

Flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. slumped as much as 23 per cent % following allegations that founder Gautam Adani drove a $250 million plot to bribe Indian government officials for solar energy contracts. The conglomerate’s several dollar notes listed overseas saw heavy losses, while a unit of the group scrapped a $600 million bond.

Bloomberg report | Read here

Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram on Thursday advised the government of India to come out with a “categorical statement” amid the chaos over “bribery and fraud” allegations against Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. He demanded a joint parliamentary probe into the matter.

Labelling the allegations as “very serious,” Karti Chidambaram said that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) must come out clean about these investigations, accusing them of “stonewalling” the same.

The Congress leader further said that this cannot be hidden “under the carpet” while demanding a report by the joint parliamentary committee.

“First it was the Hindenburg report and the establishment here (dismissed it).

ANI input

Following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials, in or about and 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 with SECI under the Manufacturing Linked Project. Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021, pursuant to which the state agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power—by far the largest amount of any Indian state or region.

With executed PSAs under the Manufacturing Linked Project, SECI could enter into corresponding PPAs to purchase solar power from Adani group entities, including its US unit.

bl Mumbai Bureau | ​Read the bl explainer here ​

“High time you and your Congress CM in Telangana come clean 

You can hold a million press conferences say whatever you may please. But can you tell me that the Rs 100 crore ‘gifted’ by Adani to Revanth Reddy is not a bribe? Can you openly tell what all was promised to Adani by your Telangana Govt?”

(Source: X/@KTRBRS)

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut told journalists in Mumbai, “This is a matter of shame for (Prime Minister) Modi and the entire nation. Modi ji has brought a blackspot for the nation for the sake of Adani. In the Hindenburg case, they gave a clean chit. We fought in Maharashtra because we said we don’t want to create an Adani rashtra. They will buy everything and sell everything. From Dharavi to the airport, everything has been sold to Adani”.

Dalip Singh of businessline writes | Read here

The ​Congress​ on Thursday reiterated its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the various scams Adani was alleged involved in, hours after a newsbreak that ​billionaire Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and others from his group were indicted by a US court​ for allegedly bribing government officials to seek solar contracts in India.

Not just the Congress, INDIA bloc ally Shiv Sena (UBT) said that the revelation from the US court has brought shame to the nation.

Dalip Singh of businessline writes | ​Read here​

Adani group stocks, especially focussing on energy segment, will be in focus, as the US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with participating in a scheme that involved promising to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts.

KS Badri Narayanan of businessline writes | Read here

​​Andhra Pradesh​​ Government officials allegedly received bribes to the tune of​​ $200 million from Adani Green​​ in connection with a power supply agreement with SECI in 2021, according to a criminal indictment in federal court in Brooklyn, USA.

The agreement was entered into by the YSR Congress Party Government of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy which was in power during 2019-24. It lost the mandate in the general elections held in May 2024.

G Naga Sridhar of businessline writes | ​​Read here​​

Australia-listed shares of GQG Partners, which holds a combined stake of nearly 20% in four Adani firms, fell more than 19% after Gautam Adani was charged with bribery and fraud in New York. It was among the biggest losers by percentage on the benchmark index. Globally, investors were cautious with the looming threat of escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia, and after artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia’s fourth-quarter forecast failed to meet some investors’ expectations.

Reuters input

Fresh troubles at the Adani Group are posing a threat to US-based GQG Partners LLC, which took a contrarian bet on the conglomerate after a short-seller attack last year. 

While GQG, run by emerging market investor Rajiv Jain, said more than 90% of its client assets are invested in issuers unrelated to the Adani Group, the investment firm’s depository receipts listed in Sydney slumped by a record 19%.

Star stock picker Jain has been the most vocal backer of Adani ever since it came under pressure following Hindenburg Research’s bombshell report in January 2023 that alleged the billionaire was running the world’s largest “corporate con”. Adani has repeatedly denied the claims.

GQG backed Adani in the months following the short-seller report that wiped out more than $150 billion in market value for the group at one point. Since then the Adani Group’s market value soared to nearly recoup all the Hindenburg-related losses, making Jain’s investment appear prescient. 

Just about a month ago, GQG expressed optimism for its bet on Adani, with portfolio manager Brian Kersmanc telling Bloomberg Television that he is “very excited for the continued headroom for growth” in the conglomerate. 

GQG, through its various funds, holds stake in most major Adani Group companies. In the flagship Adani Enterprises, GQG had a 3.52% stake, according to latest regulatory filings. The investment firm also holds shares in other key group companies including Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. and Adani Power Ltd.

Bloomberg report

January 24, 2023: US-based hedge fund and short seller Hindenburg Research releases a report alleging malpractices in the Adani group, including stock price manipulation and corporate governance lapses. Over $100 billion of investor wealth wiped out

Janaki Krishnan of businessline writes | ​​Read here ​​

The BJP on Thursday targeted the Congress over its attack on the central government after US prosecutors charged industrialist Gautam Advani with bribery and fraud, saying all the states mentioned in the indictment were at that time ruled by opposition parties.

BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya also questioned the timing of the development, as it came just before the start of Parliament session and Donald Trump’s impending presidency.

This raises several questions, he said. “That the Congress is willing to be a prop in the hands of George Soros and his cabal speaks volumes,” Malviya said on X in reply to Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s claim that the indictment vindicates the Congress’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various “Modani scams”.

Citing from the US federal prosecutors’s indictment, Malviya said the states where government officials were paid bribes allegedly by the Adani Group were Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh between July 2021 and February 2022.

He told Ramesh, “All the states mentioned here were Opposition-ruled during that time. So, before you pontificate, answer on the bribes the Congress and its allies accepted,” he said.

While Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were then ruled by the BJD and the YSR Congress, two regional parties unaffiliated to either the ruling or the opposition alliance at that time, the Congress ally DMK was and remains in power in Tamil Nadu.The Congress was in power in Chhattisgarh.

Taking a swipe at Ramesh, he said it is always good to read before one reacts and added that the US document cited by the senior Congress leader said the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

An Indian court, the BJP leader said, can similarly on legitimate grounds accuse American firms of bribing US government officials to deny access to Indian markets.

“Should we then allow law to take its course and the concerned corporate to defend or plant ourselves in domestic politics of a foreign country,” he said, asking the Congress to not get needlessly excited.

The Congress, especially the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, has constantly alleged proximity between the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adani, claiming that the port-to-energy conglomerate has received undue favours from the BJP dispensation.

Adani has dismissed such suggestions. The BJP, too, has denied the allegations and noted that the Adani Group has invested heavily in many Opposition-ruled states as well.

Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and some other group officials have been charged by federal US prosecutors for paying over USD 250 millions in bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

US prosecutors charged Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar and other defendants for paying over USD 250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts on terms that could potentially bring in more than USD 2 billion in profit.

The Adani group did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

PTI input

Gautam Adani and 7 other executives criminally indicted in the U.S. over $250 million in alleged bribes. The SEC has filed parallel charges in the “massive bribery scheme”.

(Source: X/@HindenburgRes)

Adani group stocks faced heavy drubbing during the morning trade on Thursday, with the combined market valuation of all the listed firms getting eroded by Rs 2.45 lakh crore, as billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.

The stock of the group’s flagship firm Adani Enterprises plunged 22.99 per cent, Adani Ports dived 20 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions tanked 20 per cent, Adani Green Energy plummeted 19.53 per cent and Adani Total Gas tumbled 18.14 per cent on the BSE.

Shares of Adani Power slumped 17.79 per cent, Ambuja Cements cracked 17.59 per cent, ACC fell 14.54 per cent, NDTV dropped 14.37 per cent and Adani Wilmar declined 10 per cent.

PTI input

Track bl’sstock market live updates here

​Adani group​ shares saw massive falls down over 18-20 per cent on the exchanges following the US authorities filing criminal indictments against billionaire Gautam Adani and others in a $265 million bribery scheme to secure solar energy schemes in India.

Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and Vneet Jain, have been charged with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from U.S. investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements.

Billions of dollars of investor wealth has been wiped out as Adani group stocks. Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Power - saw huge erosions in combined market capitalisation by as much as ₹2.6 lakh crore. Moody’s Ratings said that the indictment was credit negative for the group’s companies.

Janaki Krishnan of businessline reports |​Read here​

• Adani Green Energy (-17.48%)
• Adani Enterprises (-20.50%)
• Adani Energy Solutions (-20%)
• Adani Ports & SEZ (-15.99%)
• Adani Power (-11.29%)
• Adani Total Gas (-13.36%)
• Adani Wilmar (-10%)
• Ambuja Cement (-10.79%)
• ACC (-8.93%)
• NDTV (-8.41%)

Adani Green Energy has decided not to go ahead with its US dollar bond offering, following the criminal indictment brought against Gautam Adani and other board members by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of bribery.

Adani Green Energy shares fell 17.63% on the NSE to ₹1,163.70 as at 11.20 am.

bl Mumbai Bureau reports | Read here

Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports were the most significant losers, both dropping 10 per cent, while SBI fell 5 per cent, and IndusInd Bank declined 3.21 per cent.

Anupama Gosh of businessline writes | Read here

Equity indexes fell on Thursday, dragged down by a plunge in Adani group company stocks after U.S. authorities indicted Gautam Adani, the conglomerate’s chairman, over his role in a $265 million bribery scheme.

The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.78% at 23,336.9 points, as of 11:04 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.66% to 77,066.96.

U.S authorities said Gautam Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to bribe Indian government officials to win contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India’s largest solar power plant project. The group has not responded to requests for a comment.

Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, sank 22.3% while Adani Ports lost 20%. They were the top drags on the Nifty.

The other group stocks tumbled between 8.5% and 20%, with the group companies losing about $22 billion in combined market value in early trade.

Reuters input

• Gautam Adani personally met with Indian authorities on numerous occasions to advance the bribery plot.
• Co-conspirators met in person and communicated through an electronic messaging app to discuss execution, including while in the US.
• They made extensive electronic documentation of their bribery efforts, including using cell phones to track the locations and recipients of the promised bribes and photographing a document summarizing the amounts offered.
• They prepared PowerPoint and Excel presentations to determine which payment option was best. One summarized the options suggested by Gautam Adani, and described the direct payment to the Indian Energy Company as a “Development Fee.”
• The defendants often referred to each other by code names including “V,” “snake” and “numero uno minus one.” Gautam Adani was called “Mr A,” “numero uno” and “the big man.”
• Some members of the group destroyed evidence to hide their participation in the scheme, including a PowerPoint analysis and electronic communications.
• Gautam Adani emailed himself photos of each page of the search warrant and grand jury subpoena the FBI handed his nephew and co-defendant Sagar Adani.

Bloomberg report | Read here

What exactly are the charges against the Adani group. read here

“The indictment of Adani Group’s chairman and other senior officials on bribery charges is credit negative for the group’s companies. Our main focus when assessing Adani Group is on the ability of the group’s companies to access capital to meet their liquidity requirements and on its governance practices.”

Bloomberg report | Read here

Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $22 billion in market value in early trade on Thursday after ​​U.S. prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme​​.

Gautam Adani’s flagship company Adani Enterprises fell 10 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas , Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 8 per cent and 20 per cent.

Adani group’s 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $147 billion at 0411 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

U.S. authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India’s largest solar power plant project.

Reuters report | ​​Read here​​

US prosecutors have charged billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani with involvement in a plan to pay more than $250 million in bribes to government officials in India for solar energy contracts, a move that stands to further roil his ports-to-power conglomerate. Here are some of the highlights from the 54-page indictment.

• Gautam Adani personally met with Indian authorities on numerous occasions to advance the bribery plot.
• Co-conspirators met in person and communicated through an electronic messaging app to discuss execution, including while in the US.
• They made extensive electronic documentation of their bribery efforts, including using cell phones to track the locations and recipients of the promised bribes and photographing a document summarizing the amounts offered.
• They prepared PowerPoint and Excel presentations to determine which payment option was best. One summarized the options suggested by Gautam Adani, and described the direct payment to the Indian Energy Company as a “Development Fee.”
• The defendants often referred to each other by code names including “V,” “snake” and “numero uno minus one.” Gautam Adani was called “Mr A,” “numero uno” and “the big man.”
• Some members of the group destroyed evidence to hide their participation in the scheme, including a PowerPoint analysis and electronic communications.
• Gautam Adani emailed himself photos of each page of the search warrant and grand jury subpoena the FBI handed his nephew and co-defendant Sagar Adani.

Bloomberg input

“Among all the grave charges, the US District Court has also categorically stated that on Mar 19 2024 Adani Group lied to India’s stock exchanges BSE & NSE. This is tantamount to duping Indian investors & a serious offence under SEBI law. Over to Madhabi Puri Buch, yet again!”

Adani Green Energy (-18.14%)

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Adani Power (-13.98%)

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(NSE data as at 10 am)

(posted on X)

“We are monitoring the charges brought by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the US SEC against Gautam Adani and certain other Adani Group executives and companies.” 

“The answer is clearly for a new and credible SEBI head to be appointed to complete the securities law investigations into the Adani MegaScam, and for a JPC to be set up immediately to investigate its full extent.”

“The INC reiterates its demand for a JPC into the transactions of the Adani Group, which is leading to growing monopolisation in key sectors of the Indian economy, fueling inflation, and posing huge foreign policy challenges as well, especially in our neighbourhood.”

Adani Enterprises down 10%

Adani Ports down 10%

Adani Green down 18%

Adani Energy Solutions down 20%

Adani Power down 13.3%

Bloomberg input

Units of Adani Group scrapped a $600 million dollar bond on Thursday after US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani, the group founder with participating in an alleged bribe plot. The group’s existing US-currency notes plunged in Asian trading. 

The conglomerate decided not to proceed with the offering in view of recent press releases from Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.

Billionaire Adani, one of the richest men in the world, was charged with allegedly participating in a scheme that involved promising to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts. Hours before, units of the billionaire’s conglomerate had priced a bond offering that it later told investors it would scrap. 

“While Adani has shown resilience in weathering past allegations, including those from Hindenburg, this development underscores the persistent risks associated with emerging markets, particularly around governance, transparency, and regulatory scrutiny,” said Mohit Mirpuri, a fund manager at Singapore-based SGMC Capital Pte.

Bloomberg input | Read here

A five-count criminal indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn charging ​Gautam Adani​, Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud for their roles in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements. 

As alleged in the indictment, between 2020 and 2024 Adani and others agreed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts with the Indian government, which were projected to generate more than $2 billion in profits after tax over an approximately 20-year period.

​Click to read bl Mumbai Bureau report here​

US prosecutors charged Gautam Adani with helping drive a $250 million bribery scheme, threatening to throw the Indian tycoon’s conglomerate back into turmoil just as it rebounded from a short-seller’s fraud allegations.

Federal prosecutors alleged on Wednesday that Adani, one of the world’s richest people, and other defendants promised to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts, and concealed the plan as they sought to raise money from US investors. The five-count indictment also accuses Gautam’s nephew Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, both executives at an Indian renewable-energy company, of breaking federal laws.

“The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars,” Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York which brought the case, said in a statement. US law allows federal prosecutors to pursue foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets. 

Bloomberg input