Adani shares tumble on $250 million bribery allegation  

Several shares of the Adani Group hit their lower circuits following reports that Gautam Adani was involved in a multimillion-dollar fraud and bribery scheme.  

The U. S prosecutors on Wednesday night revealed that between 2020 and 2024, Adani and seven other people—among them his nephew Sagar Adani—had bribed Indian government officials with more than $250 million. 

Bribes were paid to secure government contracts for the development of solar power projects, over 20 years, the anticipated profit was $2 billion.  The U. S government claimed Adani allegedly deceived lenders and investors when obtaining more than $3 billion in loans, according to authorities. 

Adani Ports, Special Economic Zone, and Adani Enterprises, the conglomerate’s main listed company, all saw a 10% decline in value after their stocks hit a lower circuit breaker that stopped trading. Reports that Adani Green Energy had canceled a planned $600 million bond sale following these claims.  Adani Energy Solutions fell by 20%. Adani Wilmar saw a loss of more than 9%, while Adani Power Ltd. and Adani Total Gas saw losses of about 14% each. 

The weighty accusations follow a Hindenburg Research report on short sellers that accused Adani of similar schemes almost two years prior.  

 Indian regulators asserted that it had discovered minimal misconduct. The Hindenburg report caused shares of Adani Group companies to lose over $100 billion in total in early 2023. They have since recovered most of their losses, though. 

In India, critics from opposition parties and civil society have consistently alleged that the businessman has leveraged Gautam Adani’s connection with Narendra Modi, who shares his origin from Gujarat’s northwestern region, unjustly secure business contracts and amplify his wealth. On Thursday, Jairam Ramesh, a representative of the main opposition Congress, asserted that the American investigation lends credence to these allegations and warrants a parliamentary investigation to scrutinize the group’s operations.