On Thursday (21st November), the US Attorney’s Office in the eastern district of New York said that Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and seven other executives had been accused in connection with an alleged years-long plot to bribe Indian officials. US authorities claim that $250 million (Rs 2100 crore) in bribes were paid to certain Indian officials in exchange for preferential terms on solar power contracts obtained by Adani Green Energy Ltd and Azure Power Global Ltd.
In the indictment, eight executives have been named, including three from the Adani Group—Gautam Adani: Chair of the Adani Group. Sagar Adani: Nephew of Gautam Adani and head of Adani Green Energy, Vineet S. Jaain: CEO of Adani Green Energy. It also names two former CEOs of Azure Power—Ranjit Gupta: CEO from July 2019 to April 2022. Rupesh Agarwal: CEO from August 2022 to July 2023. Moreover, three former executives of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), a Canadian pension fund managing $450 billion in assets—Cyril Cabanes: Former managing director of infrastructure for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, Saurabh Agarwal: Former managing director, CDPQ India, Deepak Malhotra: Former director of infrastructure for South Asia have also been named in the indictment as defendants.
Unsurprisingly, the news of Gautam Adani being accused of bribing government officials and conspiring to commit securities fraud has the Indian opposition parties and their supportive ecosystem on cloud nine. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh went a step ahead and claimed that Congress’s constant targeting and hate campaign under the garb of demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation against Gautam Adani has been ‘vindicated’.
“The indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) of the US vindicates the demand that the Indian National Congress has been making since Jan 2023 for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various Modani scams. The INC had asked a hundred questions in its Hum Adani ke Hain (HAHK) series bringing out the various dimensions of these scams and of the intimate nexus that has existed between the PM and his favourite businessman. These questions have remained unanswered. The SEC’s actions also cast poor light on the manner in which its Indian counterpart, namely SEBI, has gone about investigating violations of securities and other laws by the Adani Group and its abject failure to hold the Group to account for the source of its investments, shell companies, etc,” Ramesh posted on X.
The indictment of Gautam Adani and others by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) of the US vindicates the demand that the Indian National Congress has been making since Jan 2023 for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) investigation into the various Modani scams. The…
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 21, 2024
Meanwhile, Sushant Singh, the Consulting Editor of the leftist propaganda outlet The Caravan took the opportunity to insinuate that Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are complicit in the alleged bribery case.
“So Adani supposedly paid bribes to government officials in India between 2020 and 2024. Of about $250 million or Rs 2000 crore. [Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga.],” Singh posted.
So Adani supposedly paid bribes to government officials in India between 2020 and 2024. Of about $250 million or Rs 2000 crore.
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) November 20, 2024
[Na khaoonga, na khaane doonga.] pic.twitter.com/MLWa175O2D
Notorious Supreme Court lawyer and a known Modi detractor Prashant Bhushan also passed off the US Justice Department’s allegations against Gautam Adani as indisputable truth and said, “Adanis indictment in the US is for 5 counts massive bribery & fraud; & relies on irrefutable electronic evidence. It seeks forfeiture of their properties. Adani forgot that US is not ruled by Modi where he could rely upon a pliant ED, SEBI& CBI to get away with anything. #Modani.”
Adanis indictment in the US is for 5 counts massive bribery & fraud; & relies on irrefutable electronic evidence. It seeks forfeiture of their properties.
— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) November 21, 2024
Adani forgot that US is not ruled by Modi where he could rely upon a pliant ED, SEBI& CBI to get away with anything.#Modani pic.twitter.com/G0VWQyTIUW
Is the US deliberately targeting Gautam Adani? Is the Indian opposition doing a self-goal by attacking Adani?
While the Congress party and the leftist ecosystem have already believed and are passing off the US Justice Department’s ‘allegations’ against Adanis as proven truth, it is pertinent to understand that Gautam Adani and other defendants are innocent till the charges against them are proven. The indictment document itself mentions that “the charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” Also, the timing of the indictment raises the question if the US is trying to stop Gautam Adani from raising capital by levelling allegations of bribery in India.
Another point worth noting is that the US Department of Justice has accused Gautam Adani of bribing Indian government officials in various state governments between the years 2021 to 2022, of which not a single state was ruled by Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). In fact, all the states mentioned in the indictment document were ruled by the anti-BJP parties at that time. In Tamil Nadu, I.N.D.I. Alliance partner DMK was and continues to be in power, in Odisha Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was in power, in Chhattisgarh Congress was in power, and in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress Party was in power between Jul 2021 and Feb 2022.
The indictment states that US and Indian companies committed to supply 12 GW of power to the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). This was contingent on SECI entering into a Power Purchase Agreement with State Electricity Distribution Companies (SDCs). Adani Green Energy partnered with Azure Power, a US renewable energy company, and Azure was allocated 4 GW, while Adani Green Energy was allocated 8 MW. The SDCs refused to purchase power because it was too expensive. Between July 21 and February 22, Adani Green Energy (in cooperation with Azure Power, a US corporation) paid the equivalent of US $265 million to SDCs situated in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
Allegations are of 2021 to 2022
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) November 21, 2024
Following parties were in power then
Odisha – BJD
Tamil Nadu- DMK and Congress
Andhra Pradesh- YSRCP
Chattisgarh- Congress
So Congress in 2 states took bribe to give work to Adani? https://t.co/tEnnlqz7BL pic.twitter.com/tqwkX39dmz
Point number 21 of the indictment says, “The Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited, GRIDCO Limited, Jammu Kashmir Power Corporation Limited, Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Corporation Limited, Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited and Andhra Pradesh Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (collectively, the “State Distribution Companies”) were electricity distribution companies in India that were state-owned and state-controlled and performed functions that the state governments in India treated as their own. The State Distribution Companies were “instrumentalities” of the Indian government, and their officers and employees were “foreign officials,” as those terms are used in the FCPA, Title 15, United States Code, Sections 78dd-1(f)(1)(A) and 78dd-3(f)(2)(A).”
As per the US Justice Department, after making the alleged promise of bribes to Indian officials of the mentioned state government, around 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 with Andhra Pradesh purchasing the maximum amount of solar power.
“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,” the indictment document states.
It further claims that in or about and between October 2021 and February 2022, the U.S. Issuer and the Indian Energy Company, through subsidiaries, executed PPAs with SECI. “Pursuant to the PPAs, the U.S. Issuer agreed to supply SECI with approximately 650 megawatts of solar power for the Indian states and region of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir (collectively, the “650 MW PPAs”) and approximately 2.3 gigawatts of solar power for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (the “2.3 GW PPAs”). Subsidiaries for the Indian Energy Company, likewise, executed their own PPAs with SECI under which the subsidiaries agreed to supply SECI with solar power for the Indian states and region of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh. Following the execution of the Andhra Pradesh-linked PPAs by the Indian Energy Company’s subsidiaries, the Indian Energy Company issued a press release quoting GAUTAM S. ADANI, who touted the signing of “the world’s largest PPA with SECI,” the indictment document reads.
Notably, the press release mentioned in the indictment document was issued by AGEL in December 2021, in which it had said that AGEL has signed an “agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 4,667 MW of green power. This is the world’s largest ever green power purchase agreement.” The press release further mentioned that the AGEL-SECI agreement to supply 4,667 MW is part of a manufacturing-linked solar tender of 8,000 MW awarded to AGEL by SECI in June 2020. “So far, AGEL has signed PPAs with SECI for a total generation capacity of close to 6000 MW of the 8,000 MW awarded in 2020. AGEL expects to close the balance 2000 MW PPA in the next two to three months,” the press release reads.
Even if it is believed that bribery allegations levelled against the Adani Group are somehow true, the Congress party and other opposition parties should answer why their state government purchased power from AGEL since they have long been accusing Gautam Adani of being close to Prime Minister Modi and taking favours from the BJP government in Centre. Also, Congress, DMK, BJD and YSRCP should answer if they accepted bribes from the Adani Group since anything the US says is a universal truth for the anti-BJP parties.
Rahul Gandhi demands Adani’s arrest, based on mere allegations in a US court
Sounding like a US deep state stooge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded Gautam Adani’s arrest merely because an American probe agency is saying so, as if India is a US colony.
"US agency is saying Adani has done a crime so point is why's he not in jail?"
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) November 21, 2024
Rahul Gandhi has got an impromptu assignment by class-teacher, using words Adani, Modi, and Jail.
Btw the clown himself is on bail under National Herald scam of ₹750 cr. pic.twitter.com/L45hv12O43
Another baseless noise before the Winter Session of Parliament?
Besides, the timing of the indictment is also questionable as it comes right ahead of the winter session of the parliament. Many crucial bills are likely to be tabled during the session, including the much-debated Waqf Amendment Bill. Just as it was seen during the Hindenburg-Adani episode, the opposition parties went berserk against the ruling dispensation accusing them of being complicit in the Adani Group’s alleged ‘stock manipulation’ and ‘fraudulent’ market practices, however, a Supreme Court-appointed six-member committee eventually said in its report that there was “no evident pattern of manipulation” in Adani’s group of companies and there was also no regulatory failure. In January this year, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea asking for a probe by the CBI into the allegations against the Adani group.
It appears that after the Haryana debacle, it is being said that Adani’s indictment is an effort by the US deep state to keep Rahul Gandhi, the Congress party’s perennial PM aspirant relevant in headlines. And given the timing of the indictment, it seems that controversy around the Adani group is being stirred to bring down the Indian stock market and hand the opposition an issue to stall the parliament. Notably, Adani Group stocks fell as much as 20% when trading resumed in Indian equity markets on Thursday.
The Adani indictment seems to be the US deep state and the outgoing Democrat administration’s last-ditch effort to tarnish India’s image and thus the Indo-US ties given Gautam Adani’s supposed liking for the President-elect Donald Trump. It was reported earlier that after Trump’s historic win, Gautam Adani announced a whopping $10 billion investment in US energy and infrastructure projects which would generate nearly 15000 jobs. Trump had earlier said he would ease the restrictions on energy production as well as expedite project approvals.
Adani Group responds to indictment by US Justice Department
In an exchange filing on Thursday, Adani Green Energy Limited said, “The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani. The United States Department of Justice have also included our Board member, Vneet Jaain, in such criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD-denominated bond offerings.”
Meanwhile, an Adani Group spokesperson rubbished allegations levelled against the Directors of ‘Adani Green’ by the US Department of Justice and the SEC. “The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against the directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” it stated. The Indian conglomerate further stated that all legal recourse is being sought.
