India’s opposition calls for Adani’s arrest after US indictment

INDIA’S main opposition party sought an investigation into business dealings of billionaire Gautam Adani after US prosecutors indicted the tycoon for promising bribes to the South Asian nation’s government officials.

Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Indian National Congress party, questioned the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s links with Adani, and suggested that those close ties helped shield the tycoon from being questioned about alleged corruption. He said that the alliance of opposition parties in the country will take up the matter together in parliament when the session starts next week and called for a joint parliamentary committee to scrutinise the group while seeking the arrest of the businessman.

US federal prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that Adani, along with his associates, promised to pay more than US$250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts, and concealed the plan as they sought to raise money from US investors. The allegations are baseless, the group said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 21), adding that it would seek all possible legal recourse to defend itself.

“It’s now pretty clear and established in America that Mr Adani has broken both American and Indian laws,” Gandhi said. “I’m wondering why Mr Adani is still roaming free in this country,” despite being accused of more than US$200 million in bribes and other alleged activities, he said.

Both Modi and Adani hail from the western Indian state of Gujarat and have risen in tandem, with the tycoon’s sprawling business built on a close alignment with Modi’s nation-building priorities in infrastructure, green energy, defense and digital services.

Adani Group stocks tumbled in India Thursday, with flagship Adani Enterprises falling by as much as 23 per cent to the lowest level in a year, while Adani Green plunged over 19 per cent. BLOOMBERG