On November 20, the floor seemed to have fallen out under the Adanis. A Federal court in Brooklyn, New York, unsealed an indictment brought by the United States Department of Justice against Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and Vneet Jaain, MD and CEO of Adani Green. Five other individuals were charged—executives of US-based Azure Power and of a Canadian institutional investor CDPQ.
The allegations were on five counts:
- Conspiracy to violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- Securities Fraud Conspiracy
- Wire Fraud Conspiracy
- Securities Fraud – the 2021 144A Bond
- Conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The Adani Group stocks tanked. Opposition parties began baying for blood. The Kenyan government called off two big ticket infrastructure projects won by the Adani Group. Other governments and clients began to rethink the projects in their home countries that were being implemented by the Adanis. Some investors, like GQG Partners though, dug in their heels and backed the group.
An indictment, as mentioned earlier, usually contains all the key details unearthed by the prosecution. But a simple reading of the alleged messages on the phones and emails of the Adanis and Jaain show that the prosecution is clutching at straws.
India’s Adani Group has said it has enough cash flow to cover debt obligations, seeking to reassure creditors after US prosecutors indicted billionaire founder Gautam Adani for fraud, sparking a sell-off in the conglomerate’s stocks and bonds, according to a 25 November Business Standard report.
On 20 November, criminal charges were filed against Adani and other senior executives, alleging that they had been involved in a US$265M bribery scheme to win contracts for Adani’s renewable energy company, expected to yield more than US$2bn in profits over 20 years, the BBC reported on the same day.
Following the US Department of Justice criminal indictment and US Securities and Exchange Commission civil complaint, the group’s market value dropped by almost US$27bn at one point, while its dollar bonds had declined and one of its entities had been forced to cancel a US$600M bond offering, Business Standard wrote.
Adani, 62, is one of Asia’s wealthiest men and is perceived as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He was thrust into the spotlight on Nov. 20 when U.S. prosecutors in New York charged him, and seven of his associates with securities fraud conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and wire fraud, as well as duping investors by concealing that his company’s huge solar on the subcontinent was being facilitated by bribes.
The situation has also raised questions about the power supply agreement between Adani Power Limited and Bangladesh. Under a power purchase agreement (PPA) signed in 2017, Adani Power is committed to supplying 1,496 MW of power to Bangladesh for 25 years. The project, operational since June 2023, is crucial for Bangladesh’s power supply.
Past concerns have been raised over the pricing of coal supplied by Adani Power. With the political changes, there might be discussions on revising the agreement. However, experts believe any drastic decision could impact investor sentiment, as Bangladesh urgently needs power.
Adani Power continues to supply electricity to Bangladesh according to the PPA, and the company highlights that the power supplied from its Godda Power Plant is beneficial in replacing costly liquid fuel-based power.
Several Indian companies with significant operations in Bangladesh can face an impact as the nation plunges into a political crisis after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. Many Indian firms have a significant presence in the neighbouring country across various sectors like auto, railways, pharma and fast-moving consumer goods.
Bangladesh wants to renegotiate Adani power deals
Bangladesh’s de facto energy minister told Reuters on Sunday that the country wants to sharply lower prices under a 25-year power purchase deal with India’s embattled Adani Group unless it is cancelled by a court. The court has called for an investigation into the deal.
Adani Group founder Gautam Adani is already facing allegations by U.S. authorities that he was part of a $265 million bribery scheme in India, charges he has denied, even as one Indian state reviews a power deal with the group and France’s TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA)
In Bangladesh, based on an appeal by a lawyer demanding the power deal’s potential cancellation, the High Court last week ordered a committee of experts to examine the contract under which Adani supplies power from a $2 billion coal-fired plant in eastern India. The investigation is expected to be concluded by February, when the court is due to make its order.
The deal was signed in 2017 by Adani and a government entity under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted this year amid a popular uprising and accusations of widespread corruption. Supply from the 1,600 megawatt plant, which uses expensive imported coal, started last year and meets about a tenth of Bangladesh’s consumption.
“Renegotiate in case of anomalies in the contract. Cancel only in case of irregularities such as corruption and bribery,” Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Bangladesh’s power and energy adviser, said in an interview in his office.
“Both based on the findings of the court-ordered investigations.”
He said some issues, such as Bangladesh not benefiting from some Indian tax exemptions to the power plant, have already been flagged to Adani and could partly form the basis of a deal renegotiation.
Adani did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the weekend. Adani Power Ltd (ADAN.NS) that the plant in India’s Jharkhand state would provide Bangladesh uninterrupted, reliable and affordable electricity and “significantly reduce the average cost” for the end consumer.
Khan said the U.S. corruption allegations against Adani themselves may not have any bearing on the Bangladeshi deal.
A separate committee formed by Bangladesh’s interim government is already probing the Adani deal and six other power contracts with the aim to ensure the investigations “will be acceptable in international negotiations and arbitration”, said a government statement.
At 14.02 taka a unit, Adani charged the highest rate for Indian-generated power to Bangladesh in the 2022/23 fiscal year, compared with an average price of 8.77 taka ($0.0737), according to the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board.
Adani’s rate fell to 12 taka a unit in 2023/24, still 27% higher than the rate of India’s other private producers and as much as 63% more than Indian state-owned plants, Reuters has reported.
The retail price in Bangladesh is 8.95 taka per unit, which results in an annual power subsidy bill of 320 billion taka for the exchequer, Khan said.
“Because the prices are high, the government has to subsidise,” Khan said. “We would like power prices, not only from Adani, to come down below the average retail prices.”
Bangladesh, however, will keep paying for the power it is importing from Adani, he said. The company had recently halved its supply because of a delay in payment.
Khan said Bangladesh has enough domestic capacity to meet its needs, though some plants are currently idle or generating below capacity because of a shortage of gas or other reasons.
“When Adani cut their supply to half, nothing happened,” he said. “We will not allow any power producer to blackmail us.”
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