Adani offered Rs 1,750 crore ‘corrupt payment’ to ‘high-ranking’ Andhra govt official: US court filing

The filings said “Foreign Official #1” was a citizen of India and from approximately May 2019 through June 2024, he served as a high-ranking government official of Andhra Pradesh.

“In addition, the defendant Gautam S Adani personally met with “Foreign Official #1” in Andhra Pradesh to advance the execution of a PSA between SECI and Andhra Pradesh’s state electricity distribution companies, including on or about August 7, 2021, on or about September 12, 2021 and on or about November 20, 2021,” the court filings read.

It added: “In furtherance of the bribery scheme, the co-conspirators, through Gautam S Adani, Sagar R Adani, Vneet S Jaain and others, had offered and promised to Indian government officials approximately Rs 2,029 crore (approximately $265 million) in bribes in exchange for Indian government officials causing the state electricity distribution companies to execute power sale agreements (PSAs) under the Manufacturing Linked Project, which would benefit the Indian energy company’s (Adani Green Energy) subsidiaries and the US issuer”.

The filings said “Co-Conspirator #1” was a citizen of the United Kingdom who resided in Hong Kong. “From approximately October 2021 through October 2023, “Co-Conspirator #1” was the Non-Executive Chairman of the US Issuer’s and the US Issuer’s subsidiary’s boards of directors.

“Co-Conspirator #2 was a citizen of India who resided in India. From approximately July 2019 through April 2022, “Co-Conspirator #2” held high-ranking executive positions at the US Issuer and the US Issuer’s subsidiary,” it said. During the course of the bribery scheme, the co-conspirators undertook extensive efforts to corruptly persuade government officials to cause state electricity distribution companies to execute power sale agreements and frequently discussed those efforts amongst themselves, including through the use of an electronic messaging application, it said.

On Wednesday, US prosecutors in New York indicted Adani Group Chairman Gautam S Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and six others for allegedly offering Rs 2,029 crore (US $265 million) in bribes to Indian government officials for securing “lucrative solar energy supply contracts” with state electricity distribution companies. The other six defendants named are: i) Vneet Jaain, who is the CEO of Adani Green Energy, ii) Ranjit Gupta who was CEO of Azure Power Global Ltd between 2019 and 2022), iii) Rupesh Agarwal, who also worked with Azure Power (between 2022 and 2023); iv, v, vi) Cyril Cabanes, a citizen of Australia and France, Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, all three who worked with a Canadian institutional investor.

According to the court filings, following the promise of bribes to Indian government officials, in or about and between July 2021 and February 2022, electricity distribution companies for the states and regions of Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh entered into power sale agreements (PSAs) with SECI under the Manufacturing Linked Project.

Andhra Pradesh’s electricity distribution companies entered into a PSA with SECI on or about December 1, 2021, pursuant to which the state agreed to purchase approximately seven gigawatts of solar power- by far the largest amount of any Indian state or region, the court filings said.

With executed PSAs under the Manufacturing Linked Project, SECI could enter into corresponding power purchase agreements (PPAs) to purchase solar power from the Indian Energy Company’s (Adani Green) subsidiaries and the US Issuer – a renewable energy company incorporated in Mauritius. In or about and between October 2021 and February 2022, the US Issuer and the Indian Energy Company, through subsidiaries, executed PPAs with SECI. “Pursuant to the PPAs, the US Issuer agreed to supply SECI with approximately 650 megawatts of solar power for the Indian states and region of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir (and approximately 2.3 gigawatts of solar power for the Andhra Pradesh.

Subsidiaries for the “Indian Energy Company”, likewise, executed their own PPAs with SECI under which the subsidiaries agreed to supply SECI with solar power for the states and region of Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh, the court filings said.