7 hours Ago By TOI News Desk
NEW DELHI: US prosecutors have indicted billionaire Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, among others, for their alleged involvement in a $265 million (Rs 2,000 crore) bribery case to secure solar power supply contracts in India. This controversy, following allegations by short-seller Hindenburg Research 22 months ago, has plunged the edible oil-to-ports giant into another crisis. Arrest warrants have been issued in the US for Gautam and Sagar Adani, with prosecutors planning to hand these warrants to foreign law enforcement, according to court records cited by Reuters.
Early Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged the Adanis, former Adani Green CEO Vneet Jaain, and executives from Azure Power and Canadian pension fund CDPQ under the Foreign Corruption Prevention Act (FCPA). Separately, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Gautam and Sagar Adani with raising funds from US investors through “false and misleading statements.” The SEC alleges they were directly involved in bribing Indian officials to secure contracts benefiting Adani Green.
Who is indicted? Gautam Adani | Chairman, Adani Green Energy Ltd Sagar Adani | Executive Director, Adani Green Energy; nephew of Gautam Adani Vneet Jaain | Former CEO, Adani Green Energy Rajnit Gupta | Former CEO, Azure Power Rupesh Agarwal | Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Azure Power Cyril Cabanes, Saurabh Agarwal, and Deepak Malhotra | Associated with Canadian pension firm CDPQ Co-conspirators Co-Conspirator #1 | UK citizen, non-executive chairman of Azure Co-Conspirator #2 | High-ranking Indian executive, Azure Power Foreign Official #1 | Andhra Pradesh government official (Designations refer to roles during the alleged period.) What is the case about? The DoJ filed a five-count criminal indictment alleging that Adani executives orchestrated a $265 million bribery scheme to secure solar power contracts in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, and Chhattisgarh between 2020 and 2024. The SEC’s parallel civil complaint accuses Adani Group of raising money from US investors while concealing their bribery activities.
Alleged 'why' and 'how' Between December 2019 and July 2020, Adani Green and Azure Power were awarded Letters of Award (LoAs) for 12 GW of solar power by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). SECI struggled to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) due to high tariffs in the LoAs, jeopardising the deals. To resolve this, Rs 2,029 crore in bribes were allegedly paid to state officials for signing power supply agreements (PSAs).
Key events Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh signed PSAs with SECI (July 2021-February 2022). Andhra Pradesh accounted for 7 GW, with Rs 1,750 crore reportedly paid as bribes after Gautam Adani allegedly met the then-chief minister in August 2021. What the indictment reveals The bribery scheme was meticulously documented.
Sagar Adani tracked bribes on his phone, while Vneet Jaain photographed documents detailing bribe amounts. Rupesh Agarwal created PowerPoint and Excel files analysing payments. Codenames used Gautam Adani: "Numero Uno," "Super Aggregator" Vneet Jaain: "Snake," "Numero Uno Minus One" SEC's allegations The SEC accused Gautam and Sagar Adani of misleading US investors by denying bribery allegations.
“The opposite was true,” stated the SEC, demanding a jury trial. Both DoJ and SEC highlighted the Adanis’ “personal and intimate involvement” in bribery to influence Indian state officials and secure lucrative contracts. Bribery breakdown Rs 2,029 crore was allegedly promised for PSAs in five states.
Rs 1,750 crore was allocated for Andhra Pradesh alone. This scandal marks the second major crisis for the Adani Group after the Hindenburg allegations in early 2023. The Adani Group has denied all charges, asserting compliance with laws.
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