India's Andhra Pradesh mulls next steps on Adani, if power deal can be scrapped

HYDERABAD - India's Andhra Pradesh state is reviewing government files and will explore if it is possible to cancel a power supply contract linked to the Adani Group, whose billionaire founder has been indicted in the United States, a top official told Reuters.

U.S. authorities have charged Gautam Adani and seven others with agreeing to pay bribes of $265 million to unnamed Indian government officials to obtain solar power-supply contracts in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, between 2021 and 2022.

Most of the alleged bribes - $228 million - were paid to a government official to get Andhra Pradesh's state electricity distribution companies to agree to purchase power, stated the U.S. indictment. Adani has said the allegations are baseless.

Andhra Pradesh's state government was "digging into all the internal files" from the previous administration, under which the alleged misconduct took place, state Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav told Reuters on Monday.

"We will also examine what can be done next, like is there a possibility to cancel the contract ... state government is looking into this issue closely," Keshav said.

A spokesperson for the Adani Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

The previous Andhra Pradesh ruling party, YSR Congress Party, last week denied any wrongdoing.

The U.S. indictment document said that following payment of alleged bribes to Indian officials, Andhra Pradesh's electricity distribution companies entered into a power supply agreement to purchase "approximately seven gigawatts of solar power - by far the largest amount of any Indian state or region."

The U.S. charges are the biggest setback for billionaire Adani, whose company shares and bonds have fallen sharply since the indictment.

French oil major TotalEnergies, which has a 20% stake in Adani Green, halted further investment into the Adani Group on Monday. REUTERS