Shares of the Indian industrial conglomerate tumbled in international markets after Adani Group chief Gautam Adani was indicted in a US court on charges of bribery and fraud. As of Thursday, the group has lost more than $27 billion or Rs 2.28 trillion since the allegations against Adani came to light.
Shares of Adani Enterprises fell 23 percent in late trade on Thursday in international markets including the US stock market, the biggest one-day decline since February 2023, according to a Reuters report.
Besides, shares of Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar, Adani Energy Solutions, ASC and Ambuja Cements fell between 7% and 19% on the same day. However, NDTV shares gained 2.2 percent. As a result, Adani Group's total market value fell to $142.6 billion on Thursday from $169.1 billion on Tuesday.
Saurabh Jain, analyst at SMC Global Securities, said, 'Irregularities in corporate governance reduce investor confidence. They (investors) will stay away from Adani shares until the situation is clear.'
Meanwhile, the Adani Group has said it will take legal action, calling the US attorney's allegations baseless. Two years ago US short-seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani Group of using tax havens and share manipulation. After this the group lost a huge amount of capital. This allegation was also denied by the Adani Group.
U.S. prosecutors said Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani obtained lucrative contracts worth $2 billion over 20 years by paying $265 million in bribes. This includes the construction of India's largest solar project. In addition, the accused, including former Adani Green Energy CEO Vineet Jain, allegedly concealed corruption while procuring Rs 3 billion in loans and bonds.
Adani Green Energy has scrapped plans to issue a $600 million bond after allegations of bribery and fraud against Adani surfaced. Narinder Wadhwa, an analyst, said, “At the moment, it is difficult for the group to raise capital in the global market because of the massive surveillance.”
Meanwhile, shares of Adani Ports and SEZ bonds fell by at least 3 to 5 cents in Asian markets on Thursday morning. This is the biggest decline since the publication of the Hindenburg Research Report.
