Adani Group Loses Kenya Airport, Power Projects Following US Bribery Charges

By Shakir Husain

NEW DELHI, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- India's Adani Group has lost airport expansion and energy projects in Kenya following an indictment of its founder and chairman Gautam Adani and other executives in the United States (US) on bribery and fraud charges.

Kenyan President William Ruto said the decision to scrap the deals was "based on new information provided by our investigative agencies and partner nations".

Adani Energy Solutions and Kenya Electricity Transmission Company (Ketraco) last month signed an agreement to build and manage power transmission lines across the East African nation in a project estimated worth 95.68 billion Kenyan shillings (US$736 million).

The Adani Group, based in India's Gujarat state, was also in the process of signing a contract to construct a second runway at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and modernise the passenger terminal in exchange for the Indian company running the airport for 30 years.

"I have directed agencies within the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement process for JKIA expansion public-private partnership transaction as well as the recently-concluded Ketraco transmission line public-private partnership contract," Ruto said in his state of the nation address.

He said because the projects were important Kenya would "immediately commence the process of onboarding alternative partners".

US prosecutors in a 54-page indictment in a New York court on Wednesday alleged that more than US$250 million in bribes were promised to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure solar energy contracts, which were projected to generate more than US$2 billion in profits over a 20-year period.

Apart from Gautam Adani, 62, the indictment names his nephew Sagar Adani, Adani Green Energy's former chief executive Vneet Jaain and five other individuals.

"This indictment alleges schemes to pay over US$250 million in bribes to Indian government officials, to lie to investors and banks to raise billions of dollars, and to obstruct justice," deputy assistant attorney general Lisa Miller said in a US Justice Department statement.

"These offences were allegedly committed by senior executives and directors to obtain and finance massive state energy supply contracts through corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors," Miller said.

The Adani Group rejected the allegations and asserted that "all possible legal recourse will be sought".

Shares of its listed entities crashed during Thursday's trading, with Adani Enterprise Limited, the flagship company, plummeting 22.6 per cent, while Adani Green Energy cancelled plans to raise US$600 million in US dollar-denominated bonds.

"The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied," Adani said in a statement on Thursday.

The conglomerate has witnessed a phenomenal rise over the past decade and acquired huge assets in a range of sectors. Its businesses include ports, airports, power generation and transmission, real estate, media, edible oils, and cement.

Adani has been caught in controversies before, both in India and abroad.

The Adani Group suffered heavy stock market losses in January last year after US-based Hindenburg Research accused it of market manipulation and accounting fraud.

Adani at that time called the report "maliciously mischievous".

In August this year, Hindenburg alleged that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, "held hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure" used by Vinod Adani, the brother of Gautam Adani.

The SEBI chief and her husband called the Hindenburg report a "character assassination" attempt.

-- BERNAMA