Adani targets US$100 billion investments in five years in growth push

[MUMBAI] The Adani group plans capital expenditure ranging between US$15 billion and US$20 billion a year over the next five years, billionaire Gautam Adani said, in his first appearance before shareholders since the US Department of Justice indicted him in November.

The group, with interests in seaports to power generation, will see a new airport begin operations in a Mumbai suburb later this year, Adani told shareholders at the annual meeting of flagship Adani Enterprises on Tuesday (Jun 24). The group will also get a 10 GW integrated solar module plant operational by the next fiscal year, while targeting 100 GW of capacity across thermal and renewable energy by 2030, he said.

The investment push is aimed at showing that business is on the rebound from the second major scandal that hit the group in two years. Adani, which had tried to rebuild investor confidence after Hindenburg Research alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud in 2023, faced a fresh setback last year when federal prosecutors in the US indicted him and his aides as part of a bribery plot.

While the group has denied Adani or his aides tried to pay more than US$250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win contracts for Adani Green Energy, the allegations nevertheless caused a series of setbacks.

Kenya cancelled US$2.6 billion worth of airport and power transmission contracts after the US case became public, and Adani pulled out of a loan deal with an American agency to fund a port terminal in Sri Lanka. TotalEnergies had also suspended fresh investments in its partnership with Adani, while the Indian group’s unit decided to exit its joint venture with Wilmar International by selling its shares to the Singaporean JV partner.

In signs that business was getting back to a semblance of normality, the group’s airport unit secured US$750 million in funding, with option for US$250 million more, from investors led by Apollo Global Management to refinance existing debt for India’s second largest airport in Mumbai. Earlier this month, the tycoon travelled to China to meet industrial equipment manufacturers, in possibly his first overseas trip since the US indictment and a sign growth focus is no longer just inward.

Addressing the shareholders virtually, Adani reiterated that no one from the Adani Group have been charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US, interpreting it as vindication of the conglomerate’s governance and compliance standards.

“We faced allegations from the US Department of Justice and the SEC relating to Adani Green Energy,” Adani said, referring to cases filed including by the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Despite all the noise, the facts are that no one from the Adani Group has been charged with violating” the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or conspiring to obstruct justice, he said. BLOOMBERG