Sprawling attempts are made from all sides to destabilize the Indian economy. And at the forefront of these attacks stand the Adani Group upon whom the conspiracies are repeatedly being orchestrated. Joining the hands of the Indian Opposition in their pursuit to shake the Indian economy, the United States and Bangladesh too have chipped in.
The United States Department of Justice has indicted the Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani and 7 other senior executives on charges of bribing Indian officials whereas the High Court in Bangladesh has ordered to form a committee to review power deals with the Adani Group. Surprisingly or not so surprisingly both the events unfolded within a span of a couple of days.
US Indicts Gautam Adani in $265 Million Bribery Scandal
US prosecutors have passed on a criminal indictment against the Indian Billionaire Gautam Adani (chairman of the Adani Group), his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others for allegedly paying $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure solar power contracts.
According to the US theory, bribes were paid between 2020 and 2024, and it has accused the involvement of state electricity distribution companies and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). It has been alleged that the Adani Group reportedly aimed to generate $2 billion in profits from these deals.
The indictment claims that the bribes were concealed from American investors and banks that financed the projects, and thus even though the corruption and bribery were related to India, American law gives a free hand to pursue corruption cases if American investors or markets are involved.
American Prosecutors allege a coordinated scheme involving Azure Power, whose executives Ranjit Gupta and Rupesh Agarwal facilitated the bribes while holding leadership roles at a “US Issuer.”
The alleged bribery plan emerged after SECI struggled to find buyers for its solar power. In response, Adani Group and Azure Power promised large bribes, particularly to officials in Andhra Pradesh, to persuade state electricity companies to sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPA).
The Adani Group withdrew its $600 million bond offering after US prosecutors accused Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, Vneet Jaain, and others of orchestrating a $250 million bribery scheme.
In an official statement, Adani Green confirmed the DOJ and SEC charges against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and Vineet Jain, announcing the suspension of its proposed bond offerings.
Adani Green in its official statement noted, “The United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a criminal indictment and brought a civil complaint, respectively, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, against our Board members, Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani.”
“The United States Department of Justice has also included our Board member, Vineet Jain, in such a criminal indictment. In light of these developments, our subsidiaries have presently decided not to proceed with the proposed USD denominated bond offerings,” the statement added.
Bangladesh High Court Orders Review of Power Deals with Adani Group
In another development involving the Adani Group, the High Court of Bangladesh has directed the formation of a high-powered committee to review all power contracts signed between the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government and the Adani Group. This decision came after a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer M. Abdul Qaiyum, alleging that the agreements were unfair and detrimental to the country’s interests.
The court has mandated the inclusion of internationally renowned energy and legal experts in the committee, which must submit its findings within two months. Additionally, the court ordered the submission of all documents related to the power purchase agreement (PPA) between the Power Division and Adani Group within the next month.
The legal action stems from a 25-year PPA signed in November 2017 by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) to purchase electricity from Adani Power’s 1600 MW power plant in Godda, Jharkhand. Bangladesh began importing electricity from the plant in April 2023.
Ties of Bangladesh and the United States over the Adani Group
Bangladesh and the United States are moving along the same path as far as the Adani Group is concerned. Coincidently the developments involving the Adani Group came in a span of a couple of days where both tend to attack the Indian billionaire Gautam Adani.
Ironically, the judiciary, be it of any nation, is typically known for its slow and measured pace but the High Court of Bangladesh and the United States Department of Justice have coincidentally maintained the same pace in the case involving Gautam Adani. It is hard to differentiate whether the two are working on different islands or if the Bangladeshi administration is working as a vassal of the United States under a puppet leader.
The United States’ deep connection with Bangladesh has been speculated for months. It was May 2024 when the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina alerted about a conspiracy to create a Christian state similar to East Timor by carving out parts of Bangladesh and Myanmar. Hasina though did not disclose the name of the entity but it was more or less suspected that it is the United States. She even claimed that she was offered an easy reelection in January if she would have permitted a foreign nation to establish an airbase in Bangladesh. Well, the world knows what happened next, Sheikh Hasina was made to leave Bangladesh, the US puppet Mohammad Yunus sat on the throne and the plight of the Bengali Hindus is for all to see.
The attacks of Hindenburg over the Adani Group
US-based short-seller, Hindenburg too has been hounding the Adani Group for a long time now and has launched repeated attacks upon the Indian conglomerate. Hindenburg Research launched its first attack in January 2023 by coming up with a report titled, “Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling the Largest Con in Corporate History” where it accused the Adani Group of Fraud and stock price manipulation and pointed fingers upon SEBI who tried to investigate tractions of the Adani group but succumbed to political pressure.
Following the release of the report, the Adani Group had to go through major challenges with a dip in its stocks. The Adani group stocks fell by up to 10 percent. Again after one and a half years, Hindenburg came with their second report but failed to manipulate the Indian market which was seen as a major victory of the Adani Group over foreign powers with vested interests.
Celebration at the farm of India’s Opposition over Adani’s loss
After the Hindenburg hit the Adani Group which brought major loss to the group, a wave of happiness spread upon the air floating above India’s political parties that sit as Opposition. Following the release of Hindenburg’s report, the parliamentary proceedings were disrupted by the opposition by introducing an Adjournment motion.
They caused significant commotion throughout the session, demanding the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to investigate the Adani-Hindenburg controversy, thereby hindering the normal legislative activities of Parliament.
The recent indictment of Gautam Adani by the United States Department of Justice too has targeted Adani Group. The indictment has triggered sharp declines in Adani’s US dollar bonds, with some falling as much as 15 cents in Asian trading. Existing bonds issued by Adani Green Energy have gone to hit record lows, trading at 80 cents on the dollar, reflecting heightened investor concerns.
This might have brought a smile to the faces of opposition leaders and they may try to create a brouhaha over it. But before jumping down to the issue, the opposition must closely analyze the allegations against Gautam Adani. The US prosecutors have alleged that the chairman of the Adani Group was involved in bribing Indian officials in 2021 and 2022. And in 2021 and 2022, out of six state governments whom the US district court has accused of taking bribes from the Adani Group, two were ruled by Congress and its ally DMK and the other two by the third front, YSRCP and BJD.
Indian Opposition and their love for foreign agencies
Over the years, the opposition has repeatedly disrupted Parliament using baseless allegations from foreign agencies. The Hindenburg report came a few days before the Budget session in January 2023 where it pointed fingers against the Adani Group. The opposition made use of the report as an opportunity to gain political numbers and thus demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and went up to disrupt the Parliamentary sessions. However, the Supreme Court later dismissed the report as unverified, undermining the opposition’s narrative.
Likewise, the foreign media outlet “The Guardian” in July 2021 alleged that the Government of India is using Pegasus spyware to keep surveillance on its dissenters. Interestingly the baseless report came a day before the Monsoon Session. Later the claim of ‘The Guardian’ was turned baseless as it had no evidence to support these allegations. The opposition’s allegations against the Rafale fighter jet deal, fueled by foreign media like Mediapart is another such example. Despite multiple disruptions in Parliament, the Supreme Court eventually gave the deal a clean chit, dismissing the claims as baseless.
A controversial BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, aired in January 2023, was weaponized by the opposition during the Budget Session. However, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s ban, calling the allegations unfounded. Just before the 2023 Winter Session, opposition leaders claimed state-sponsored cyberattacks on their devices. The narrative fell apart when Apple clarified the unreliability of such notifications.
Be it the Hindenburg report, Pegasus spyware, BBC documentary of the 2002 Gujarat riots, or Rafale, all things have one thing in common, in all these instances, the opposition political parties have shown more trust in the foreign entities over domestic matters of India.
