Adani Touts $100 Billion Push in Defiant Shareholder Address

Gautam Adani Photographer: Indranil Aditya/Bloomberg Photo by Indranil Aditya /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — The Adani Group plans capital expenditure ranging between $15 billion and $20 billion a year over the next five years, billionaire Gautam Adani said, in his first appearance before shareholders since the US Department of Justice indicted him in November.

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The group, with interests in seaports to power generation, will see a new airport begin operations in a Mumbai suburb later this year, Adani told shareholders at the annual meeting of flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd. on Tuesday. The conglomerate will also get a 10 GW integrated solar module plant operational by the next fiscal year, while targeting 100 GW of capacity across thermal and renewable energy by 2030, he said.

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The investment push is aimed at showing that business is on the rebound from the second major scandal that hit the group in two years. Adani, who tried to rebuild investor confidence after Hindenburg Research alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in 2023, faced a fresh setback last year when federal prosecutors in the US indicted him and his aides as part of a bribery plot.

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While the group has denied Adani or his aides tried to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win contracts for Adani Green Energy Ltd., the allegations nevertheless had repercussions around the world. 

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Kenya canceled $2.6 billion worth of airport and power transmission contracts after the US case became public, and Adani pulled out of a loan deal with an American agency to fund a port terminal in Sri Lanka. TotalEnergies SE had also suspended fresh investments in its partnership with Adani, while the Indian group’s unit decided to exit its joint venture with Wilmar International Ltd. by selling its shares to the Singaporean JV partner.

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Yet in recent months, especially after President Donald Trump came to power in the January, the Indian billionaire has been returning to business-as-usual. Its airport unit secured $750 million in funding, with option for $250 million more, from investors led by Apollo Global Management Inc. Earlier this month, the tycoon traveled to China to meet industrial equipment manufacturers, in possibly his first overseas trip since the US indictment, a sign of confidence that the charges are no longer hanging over him. 

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Addressing the shareholders virtually, Adani reiterated that no one from the Adani Group has been charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US, interpreting it as vindication of the conglomerate’s governance and compliance standards.

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Though it was an FCPA probe that swept up Adani, authorities didn’t actually invoke the act against him.

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Instead, the Justice Department charged him with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Prosecutors said he promised to pay $250 million in bribes to regional officials in India to lock in solar-power contracts. But their case and the SEC’s lawsuit hinge on claims he misled US lenders by falsely asserting his company was fully compliant with anti-bribery laws.

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Representatives for the Indian tycoon have met with Trump administration officials about dismissing the criminal charges levied against him and are trying to make the case that his prosecution doesn’t align with the US president’s priorities, Bloomberg News reported last month. 

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