Adani case fallout: CM Naidu promises action

Andhra Pradesh promised on Friday to look into and "act" on charges that the Adani Group and its top executives paid massive bribes in the state for solar power contracts, while the Congress vowed to press for action in Parliament and global banks began reviewing fresh credit to the conglomerate, as fallout intensified from the US indictment of Gautam Adani that has wiped nearly $28 billion off his empire's value in two days.

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Stocks of some Adani Group companies rallied — Ambuja Cements rose 3.50%, ACC climbed 3.17%, and the flagship Adani Enterprises advanced 2.16% — while value eroded rapidly from some others, including Adani Green Energy, which tanked 8.20%, Adani Energy Solutions that slumped 6.92%, and Adani Power that dropped 3.23%.

"I have all the chargesheet reports filed there (US). It is in the public domain. Will study it (the allegations and indictment). Will act on it and inform you," Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu told the state assembly, terming it a "very sad development" that had hurt the state's prestige.

The largest alleged bribes approximately 1,750 crore were reportedly offered to officials in Andhra Pradesh when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was the chief minister. The state's power distribution companies had entered into agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (Seci) on December 1, 2021, for approximately seven gigawatts of solar power.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which governed Odisha where prosecutors say the bribery scheme began, strongly rejected the allegations. "The types of allegations made in the name of Odisha are baseless and not based on facts," former Odisha energy minister and BJD MLA PK Deb told PTI. He insisted the state government had no role in the agreements, which "remained confined among Gridco, the distribution company and the SECI."