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Gautam Adani Group in spotlight after indictment news sparks Google search surge

The indictment, filed in New York on Wednesday, triggered a surge in online interest, with "Gautam Adani Group" becoming one of the top searches on Google.

The Adani Group had denied the allegations, terming them as “baseless”. (File)

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani became a trending topic on Thursday following news of his indictment by U.S. prosecutors. The Adani Group Chairman, along with his nephew Sagar Adani and six others, has been accused of allegedly paying ₹2,029 crore (approximately $265 million) in bribes to Indian government officials to secure profitable solar energy supply contracts with state-run electricity distribution companies.

The indictment, filed in New York on Wednesday, triggered a surge in online interest, with “Gautam Adani Group” becoming one of the top searches on Google. Search volumes reportedly jumped by 1,000% within three hours, amassing over 5,000 searches.

Screengrab of trends.google shows a massive surge in Google search

The six others named in the case include Vneet Jaain, CEO of Adani Green Energy Ltd.; Ranjit Gupta, former CEO of Azure Power Global Ltd.; Rupesh Agarwal, an ex-employee of Azure Power; Cyril Cabanes, an Australian-French national; and Saurabh Agarwal and Deepak Malhotra, both associated with a Canadian institutional investor.

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An Adani Group spokesperson stated that a formal response would be issued soon, adding that the allegations are unproven and the defendants remain innocent until proven guilty.

In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a parallel complaint against Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and others linked to Adani Green Energy Ltd. and Azure Power Global Ltd. These charges, also tied to the alleged bribery scheme, were submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The Adani Group is expected to release a statement addressing the matter.

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'Remain in US, avoid travel': Microsoft, JP Morgan, Amazon advise visa holders to return before Trump’s $100,000 H-1B fee deadline

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