No notice from US Department of Justice: Adani Group

NEW DELHI: After a JP Morgan report stated that the scope for bribery looks "highly unlikely" for the Adani Group given the high level of transparency involved in renewable energy sector in India, the Adani Group of companies said they have not received any notice from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over any bribery allegation.

In a stock exchange filing, the Adani Group said they have “not received any notice from the Department of Justice in respect of the allegation" and the media “report is false”.

Last weekend, Bloomberg reported that prosecutors from the US Attorney Office and DoJ are looking at an Adani Group entity and Azure Power Global around potential bribery investigations.

In a separate filing, Adani Green Energy Ltd also said they have not received any notice but “is aware of an investigation by the United States Department of Justice into potential violations of United States anti-corruption laws by a third party”.

“The company has no relationship with the said third party and is thus unable to comment on the scope of the present United States investigation that the company or any of its personnel are subject to or exposed to in connection with the company’s alleged dealings with the third party,” Adani Green said in the filing.

The JP Morgan report had mentioned that overall, assuming this is related to the renewable energy project of the companies, “we believe such provisions are highly unlikely to lead to a material financial impact even if the reported investigation moves to the prosecution stage and thereupon establishment of an instance of bribery”.

“Given the high level of transparency involved in various renewable energy tenders floated in India, the scope for significant corruption and bribery looks highly unlikely to us,” the report had said.