Billionaire Gautam Adani of India's Adani Group charged in US with bribery; bond deal pulled

Gautam Adani, the billionaire chair of Indian conglomerate Adani Group and one of the world's richest people, has been indicted in New York over his role in an alleged multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme, according to U.S. prosecutors.

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.

Fallout for the Adani empire was immediate.

Adani Green Energy ADNA.NS cancelled plans on Thursday to raise $600-million in U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The bond had been priced but was pulled following the news.

Adani Green Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the shelved transaction.

In early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down between 3-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone US00652MAJ18=TE. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

The Adani Group has not responded to requests for comment on the indictment. DM

(Reporting by Dharamraj Dhutia and Sumeet Chatterjee; Additional reporting Yantoultra Ngui; Writing by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Kim Coghill and Edwina Gibbs)