The week started with a lull in the news. There was some excitement around the elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand, but in an election-addicted India, even that was somewhat lukewarm. Then, on Thursday morning, news of the US indictments against Gautam Adani and several others – to borrow from Miley Cyrus – came like a wrecking ball. The spell of slowness was completely broken.

With India’s biggest businessman – apparently so close to the Narendra Modi government – accused of bribing state government officials, the consequences have rippled through the political, legal and business worlds, shaking them all. What’s more, the affair exposed inefficiencies in India’s renewable energy market, which created the conditions for the alleged corruption scheme.

The indictments – issued by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – were wonderfully worded, laying out the allegations in plain language. THE essential was that Mauritius-registered Adani Green Energy and Azure Power, both previously listed on US stock exchanges, allegedly misled US investors by claiming that they were not involved in corrupt practices abroad .

The indictments were clear: several members of the senior management of Adani Green Energy and Azure Power allegedly conspired to bribe various state government officials to ensure that the state-owned electricity distribution companies (DISCOM ) sign power supply agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). . These PSAs, in turn, would have allowed SECI to purchase solar power from Adani and Azure at high rates.

Also read: Adani should take lessons from Tatas and Birlas: stay away from politicians

A friend of a…

Although the Justice Department’s indictment fails to actually name the primary beneficiaries of the alleged bribes, it does say that approximately 86 percent of the alleged bribes were to be paid to a senior official of the Andhra Pradesh government. On the other hand, the accusation made by the American SEC was not as circumspect.

He categorically said that Gautam Adani, in 2021, had met the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh – YSRCP’s Jagan Mohan Reddy was then holding that post – and “at or in connection with that meeting, he paid or promised a bribe.” wine to Andhra Pradesh government officials” to strike a deal. electricity supply agreements with SECI.

The Adani Group quickly refused the allegations, calling them baseless and saying she would seek all legal remedies.

Notably, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Chandrababu Naidu, usually extremely quick to criticize the Jagan government, failed to take advantage of this situation. For what? Printing learned that the TDP, an ally of the BJP, is wary of launching an attack that would compromise Adani. A friend of a friend is a friend and a friend of an enemy is an enemy. But what happens to someone who is both? This seems to be Naidu’s conundrum.

The indictments also show an utter lack of self-preservation on the part of Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar and their co-conspirators. How else would you describe the fact that Sagar’s phone content point-by-point details of the alleged corruption amounts to be paid, or that Gautam Adani apparently sent by email documents that he then allegedly hid from Indian stock exchanges?

But the comedy of errors does not end there. Adani’s co-conspirators at Azure Power attempted to throw him under the bus when the heat intensified under the gaze of American authorities. We come back to the whole friend-enemy concept.

Also read: Indicted by the United States, condemned by the market. The damage to Adani will be deeper and more lasting this time

Difficult times ahead

All things considered, the matter is serious for the company, given how Adani’s stock lost a whopping Rs 2.6 lakh crore in market capitalization on Thursday, followed by another Rs 35,000 billion Friday.

Adani Green Energy was also forced to abandon its plan to raise $600 million via dollar-denominated bonds, which could potentially affect its growth plans and could, to a limited extent, impact the energy push renewable resources of India.

More troubling for the Adani group is the blow dealt by Kenya, which announced that it scrapping a $2.5 billion settlement with the group, citing the indictment.

The charges could also result in SEBI investigation, following apparently misleading statements made to Indian media and stock exchanges.

But can Indian authorities launch their own investigations based on a foreign government’s findings? There is precedent. In at least two cases In the past, the CBI launched an investigation following the findings of the US Department of Justice.

Finally, with SECI in the spotlight, the case strengthens the argument that DISCOMs and solar power producers should perhaps haggle and sign deals with each other.

All this comes just days before the winter session of Parliament. Conspiracy theorists say this is no coincidence. Regardless, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a tough time on his return from Guyana.

Opinions are personal.

(Edited by Theres Sudeep)