Adani Group’s shares plunged when the markets opened on Thursday, November 21, 2024, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed it was charging Gautam Adani, chairman of the group, along with Sagar Adani and Cyril Cabanes, an executive at Azure Power Global Ltd, in a bribery and fraud investigation.
The stocks plummeted sharply after US prosecutors indicted billionaire Gautam Adani in connection with a $250 million bribery scheme allegedly hidden from US investors.
Stocks of Adani Group companies share fell as much as 20% to intra-day low on Thursday. Adani Green Energy Ltd, the main company involved in the case saw its shares plummeting 17.44% or by ₹246.25 to ₹1165.50 at 11:45 am IST.
The total market capitalization of all 10 listed Adani Group companies fell to Rs 11.91 lakh crore on Thursday, down from Rs 11.63 lakh crore on Tuesday. This represented a loss of approximately Rs 2.60 lakh crore in just the early hours of trading.
US prosecutors charged Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar and other defendants for paying over $250 million in bribes between 2020 and 2024 to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts on terms that could potentially bring in more than $2 billion in profit. This, they alleged, was concealed from the US banks and investors from whom the Adani group raised billions of dollars for the project.
