What is the case in which Gautam Adani has been charged with bribery in US?

Gautam Adani bribery case: US prosecutors indicted Gautam Adani and 7 others for allegedly paying Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials for securing solar power contracts. What is the case?

In Short

• Adani indicted for allegedly paying bribes to officials for solar power contracts
• Bribes were allegedly paid between 2020 and 2024
• The Adani Group hoped to rake in $2 billion in profits

Trouble mounted for Gautam Adani after US prosecutors indicted the Adani Group chairperson, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others for allegedly paying Rs 2,029 crore ($265 million) in bribes to Indian government officials for securing solar power contracts with state electricity distribution companies. The bribes were allegedly paid between 2020 and 2024.

The US prosecutors claimed that this fact was concealed from the US banks and investors from whom the Adani Group raised billions for the solar energy project. The Adani Group hoped to rake in $2 billion in profits by securing the energy contracts.

Although the bribery charges are linked to Indian officials, American law allows it to pursue corruption cases if they involve American investors or markets.

The period in which the bribes were allegedly paid coincides with the release of a damning report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research in 2023. The report accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and accounting fraud. It triggered a $150 billion loss in the Adani Group's market value.

But, what is the case in which Gautam Adani has been indicted? We decode the intricacies of the case for you.

As per the US indictment, Gautam Adani is mentioned as the founder and chairperson of an "Indian Energy Company", which is the centre of the row. Sagar Adani is mentioned as the executive director of the energy company (Adani Green Energy).

Ranjit Gupta, who was the CEO of Azure Power, and Rupesh Agarwal, consultant and CEO at Azure Power, are mentioned as working for a "US Issuer".

The US prosecutors said the "Indian Energy Company" and the "US Issuer" bagged a contract to provide 12 gigawatts of solar power to state-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

However, SECI couldn't find buyers in India to purchase the solar power. Without buyers, the deal couldn't move forward, and both companies risked losing the profits they expected. It was then that Adani Group and Azure Power came up with a plan to offer bribes to Indian government officials.

In return, government officials would persuade state electricity distribution companies to enter into power supply agreements with SECI. They promised around $265 million in bribes, with a large portion directed at officials in Andhra Pradesh.

Following this, some state electricity companies entered into an agreement with the SECI to buy solar power from the two companies. "The Indian energy company and the US Issuer worked closely to split the bribe payments," the indictment said.

US prosecutors further said that to hide their involvement, the conspirators used code names. For example, Gautam Adani was called "Numero Uno" or "The Big Man". The communication was via encrypted messaging.

However, leadership changes at the "US Issuer" led to a shake-up. Ranjit Gupta served as CEO of Azure Power from 2019-2022. From 2022-2023, Rupesh Agarwal took charge. Some executives who were involved in the project were asked to resign.

Meetings were held to figure out how to pay off the promised bribes without being obvious. Options included transferring parts of the project or disguising the payments as fees.

"The conspirators began implementing their plans, including transferring part of the project back to the Indian energy company as a way to settle bribe obligations. The defendants fabricated reasons for returning the projects, claiming that litigation and deteriorating economics were the reasons," the indictment said.

However, the Adani Group concealed from the US Issuer's board of directors that they had already promised bribes in return for securing another set of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).

The indictment said Gautam Adani was allegedly directing the reallocation and had direct involvement in influencing SECI's decision to approve the transfer.