India Indexes Extended Weekly Losses, Gautam Adani and Executives Face Bribery Charges In New York

Arun Goswami
21 Nov, 2024
Mumbai

Stocks in Mumbai traded down, reflecting market weakness in Asia and persistent worries about foreign fund outflows. 

The Sensex index declined 0.5% to 77,172.19, and the Nifty index fell 0.6% to 23,378.60. 

Stocks were under pressure after Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, and seven others were charged in New York for an alleged bribery scheme. 

The U.S. Department of Justice leveled charges against billionaire investors, citing telephone conversations and meetings with Indian officials to facilitate acquiring contracts for solar power projects between 2020 and 2024. 

The U.S. authorities allege that Adani and executives at the company offered $250 million of bribes to Indian government officials and failed to disclose the arrangements to U.S. investors in a bond offering to finance $2 billion worth of solar energy projects. 

Separately, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global. 

Adanis and Cabanes were charged by the regulatory agency for their role in raising $175 million through the sale of bonds for Adani Green Energy and misrepresenting to U.S. investors. 

Adani Green Energy plunged 18.5% to ₹1,145.25, Adani Energy Solutions declined 20% to ₹697.25, Adani Power fell 14.3% to ₹449.0, and Adani Enterprises dropped 10% to ₹2,539.35. 

 

India Stock Movers 

Adani Enterprises declined 0.7% to ₹2,817.0 after Gautam Adani, chairman of the diversified group, was charged in New York over his role in a bribery and fraud scheme. 

Bharti Airtel Ltd decreased 0.8% to ₹1,524.30, and the company awarded 4G and 5G telecom equipment orders to Finland-based Nokia Oyj. 

Cipla Ltd. fell 0.3% to 1.462.0 after the company's U.S. subsidiary recalled 1,875 boxes of Lanthanum Carbonate chewable tablets, according to a latest enforcement report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

The tablet is used to treat excessive phosphate in patients with end-stage kidney disease undergoing dialysis. 

Godrej Industries declined 0.3% to ₹1,020.0, and the company raised 1,000 crore through the sale of unsecured non-convertible bonds of various maturities. 

UPL Ltd eased 0.5% to ₹544.0, and the private equity group Alpha Wave Global invested $350 million (or about ₹2,850 crore) in the specialty chemical maker's subsidiary Advanta Enterprises. 

Tata Technologies Ltd. increased 0.6% to ₹954.0 after the company signed a preliminary agreement with the Tripura government to upgrade 19 industrial training institutes in the northeastern state. 

The company will invest 86% of the ₹683 crore total outlay, and the Tripura government will pay for the remaining 14%. 

One 97 Communications Ltd edged up 1.2% to ₹824.40, and the company has launched a gateway for international payments for Indian travelers to the UAE, Bhutan, Nepal, France, and Mauritius.