Adani group stocks' combined mcap erodes by Rs 2.45 lakh cr; Adani Enterprises tanks 23 pc
New Delhi (PTI): Adani group stocks faced heavy drubbing during the morning trade on Thursday, with the combined market valuation of all the listed firms getting eroded by Rs 2.45 lakh crore, as billionaire Gautam Adani has been charged by US prosecutors over his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay USD 250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for favourable terms for solar power contracts.
The stock of the group's flagship firm Adani Enterprises plunged 22.99 per cent, Adani Ports dived 20 per cent, Adani Energy Solutions tanked 20 per cent, Adani Green Energy plummeted 19.53 per cent and Adani Total Gas tumbled 18.14 per cent on the BSE.
Shares of Adani Power slumped 17.79 per cent, Ambuja Cements cracked 17.59 per cent, ACC fell 14.54 per cent, NDTV dropped 14.37 per cent and Adani Wilmar declined 10 per cent.
Some of the group firms also hit their lowest trading permissible limit for the day.
The combined market capitalisation (mcap) of all the ten listed group firms eroded by Rs 2,45,016.51 crore during the morning deals.
In the equity market, the BSE benchmark Sensex traded 536.89 points lower at 77,041.49 and the NSE Nifty quoted 186.75 points down at 23,331.75.
US prosecutors charged Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar and other defendants for paying over USD 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 USD 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.
US law allows pursuing foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets.
The Adani group did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
"The defendants orchestrated an elaborate scheme to bribe Indian government officials to secure contracts worth billions of dollars," Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which brought the case, said in a statement.
Adani, chairman of the ports-to-energy Adani Group, his nephew Sagar R Adani, who is an executive director at the conglomerate's renewable energy arm Adani Green Energy Ltd, and its former CEO Vneet Jaain were charged with securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy.
The Adanis were also charged in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil case.
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AIADMK-BJP alliance doomed to fail, says TN CM Stalin
Chennai, Apr 12 (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday said "hunger for power" is the reason for the alliance between the AIADMK and BJP and the tie-up is against ideals such as protection of state rights and it is doomed to fail.
Stalin, reacting to the announcement of an alliance between the state's main opposition party and the national party that helms the Centre, said that the AIADMK claims to oppose NEET, the imposition of Hindi, the three-language policy and the Waqf Act and also say that Tamil Nadu’s representation should not be reduced during delimitation.
"Are all these part of the Common Minimum Programme?", he asked. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, however, did not speak about any of these. Nor did he allow the AIADMK leadership to speak. Instead, Stalin said Shah used the press conference only to criticize his party, the DMK, the DMK government and him.
The chief minister said: "The AIADMK-BJP alliance is doomed to fail. It was the people of Tamil Nadu who handed repeated defeats to this coalition. Now, Shah has reconstituted the same failed alliance."
Stalin said Shah failed to state on what ideological foundation the alliance was formed. Instead, he merely assured that a Common Minimum Programme would be worked out.
Further, he said: "The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a movement that stands to protect state rights, linguistic rights, and Tamil culture. In contrast, the BJP-AIADMK alliance has been formed with a hunger for power and stands against all these ideals. People have not forgotten that Edappadi Palaniswami, in his thirst for power, mortgaged Tamil Nadu’s dignity and rights with Delhi and brought ruin to the state."
The Dravidian party chief said when Shah spoke about corruption while confirming an alliance with AIADMK, the people of Tamil Nadu "would certainly have laughed."
Former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had to step down twice due to corruption charges and she was sentenced to four years imprisonment in the disproportionate assets case by a special court in Bengaluru after years of legal proceedings. If the BJP forms an alliance with her party, can it still speak credibly about corruption,? Stalin demanded to know. It should not be forgotten that the AIADMK functionaries and their relatives were subjected to "two raids" by central investigating agencies.
"To escape the consequences, they ran towards the BJP leadership. The alliance was confirmed based on this compromise. The people of Tamil Nadu are not naive — they know that corruption is the very basis of the AIADMK-BJP alliance. Those who pledged AIADMK out of fear of two raids are now eager to mortgage the entire Tamil Nadu," the DMK president alleged. The alliance between the AIADMK and BJP is a failure alliance and the tie-up is a "corruption", by itself.
Stalin alleged that the BJP leadership has a calculated plan to eradicate Tamil through Hindi imposition, to block Tamil people’s progress through various conspiracies, and to undermine Tamil Nadu’s rights through constituency delimitation.
The AIADMK, "an old bonded slave camp," which has long surrendered itself, is being coerced by threats by the BJP to implement these conspiracies.
Stalin said: "Whether the BJP comes alone or with partners, the people of Tamil Nadu are ready to deliver a fitting lesson. To the traitorous alliance that kneels in Delhi without self-respect and tries to pawn Tamil Nadu, the people will give the right response."
When repeatedly questioned by journalists about NEET, the Union Home Minister was unable to provide a proper response, the chief minister claimed adding if Shah believed NEET was right, he should have defended that position clearly. Instead, Shah tried to "deflect" by claiming that opposing NEET was a diversionary tactic.
Stalin condemned Shah for "irresponsibly claiming that law and order has deteriorated in Tamil Nadu."
The chief minister said: "This is not Manipur — this is Tamil Nadu. The BJP ruled over a state where more than 250 people were killed in the past 18 months. The Union Home Minister who failed to restore peace there now seeks to disturb peace in a peaceful state like Tamil Nadu.
"It is precisely because of the law and order maintained here that the state continues to progress in all aspects — a fact confirmed even by union government statistics. Yet, the Union Home Minister irresponsibly tried to incite fear by claiming a breakdown of law and order."
