Adani indictment: Adani Total, Adani Power soar nearly 20 pc amid bribery allegations

Adani group news: Shares of all Adani Group firms ended sharply higher on Wednesday, with Adani Total Gas and Adani Power soaring nearly 20 per cent, bouncing back from the previous day’s fall. The stock of Adani Total Gas surged 19.76 per cent, Adani Power soared 19.66 per cent, Adani Enterprises zoomed 11.56 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions jumped 10 per cent and Adani Green Energy climbed 10 per cent on the BSE.
Shares of NDTV jumped 9.35 per cent, Adani Wilmar rallied 8.46 per cent, Adani Ports surged 6.29 per cent, Sanghi Industries (4.73 per cent), Ambuja Cements (4.40 per cent) and ACC (4.16 per cent).
Helped by the rally in the stocks, the group firms’ combined market valuation surged Rs 1,24,693.19 crore. Adani Power, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas also hit their upper circuit limits during the day.
On Tuesday, shares of all Adani group firms ended lower, with Adani Green Energy tumbling 7 per cent. In the equity market, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 230.02 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 80,234.08 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty rose 80.40 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,274.90.
Embattled billionaire Gautam Adani and his aides have not been charged under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an Adani Group entity said on Wednesday, adding that they faced three other charges, including securities and wire fraud that are punishable with monetary fines.
The US Department of Justice’s (US DOJ) indictment filed in a New York Court last week does not mention Gautam Adani, founder chairman of the ports-to-energy conglomerate, his nephew Sagar, or Vneet Jaain in any count related to conspiracy to violate the FCPA, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), said in a stock exchange filing.
AGEL is at the heart of the allegation of USD 265 million bribes being paid to Indian officials to secure solar power sale contracts that could bring in USD 2 billion of profits over a 20-year period to the firm.
The three — executives at AGEL — have only been charged with securities fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, and securities fraud, the company said. In general, the penalties for such charges are less severe than bribery. Adani Group had last week denied all allegations as baseless, and said it would seek legal recourse to defend itself.