In a significant legal development, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (USSEC) has indicted billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani for allegedly paying `1,750 crore to former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. The payment was purportedly made to influence State electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) to sign a deal to procure 7 GW of solar power from the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) under a manufacturing-linked project.
Court documents filed in New York referred to “Foreign Official #1” as a high-ranking figure from Andhra Pradesh who held office between May 2019 and June 2024. Although the filing did not explicitly name Jagan Mohan Reddy, it alleged that Gautam Adani met the official multiple times in 2021 to finalise power sale agreements (PSAs) between SECI and the State’s DISCOMs.
The court papers further revealed that Gautam Adani, along with his nephew Sagar Adani, Vineet Jain, and others, had promised bribes totalling ?2,029 crore (approximately $265 million) to Indian officials. Of this amount, Jagan Mohan Reddy allegedly received ?1,750 crore. The bribes were reportedly intended to secure PSAs benefiting Adani Green Energy and other connected companies.
The filings also identified co-conspirators, including a UK citizen based in Hong Kong and an Indian national, both associated with a US-based company.
The documents detailed extensive electronic communication among the accused to facilitate the alleged bribery scheme, which led to PPAs being signed between July 2021 and February 2022.
In December 2021, Andhra Pradesh’s DISCOMs signed a PPA with SECI for the purchase of 7 GW of solar power—the largest such agreement by any Indian state, according to the court documents.
On Wednesday, US prosecutors in New York formally charged Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani, and six others, including Vineet Jain, CEO of Adani Green Energy, and former Azure Power executives, for offering bribes to Indian officials to secure lucrative solar energy contracts.
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