Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar
Under 10 years of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule, industrialist Gautam Adani became a “national champion” in infrastructure and one of the richest men in the world. He is India’s main face in attempts to combat China’s Belt and Road Initiative. To compete with China in building infrastructure across Asia and Africa, Modi has nominated or backed Adani companies in several ventures abroad to boost India’s image and prowess.
That is proving a terrible choice. US prosecutors have indicted Adani for paying or planning to pay $265 million in bribes to secure financing and 12 gigawatts of solar-power contracts from Indian government agencies. US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lisa Miller has accused Adani and two codefendants of “corruption and fraud at the expense of US investors” in Adani companies. Given Adani’s stature, the US prosecutors would not have asked for Adani’s arrest without careful accumulation of clinching evidence.
Earlier in 2023, US short-seller Hindenburg alleged that Adani had misused tax havens and engaged in stock market manipulation to push up his stock prices. Separately, the Financial Times (London) repeatedly claimed that Adani had over-invoiced the price of coal imported from Indonesia to his power plant in Gujarat, where his power tariff is linked to the coal import price.
These claims temporarily crashed Adani prices, but they recovered soon. Given Adani’s closeness to Modi, it was no surprise that neither India’s market regulator nor customs authorities followed up on Hindenburg’s or the Financial Times’s accusations. But Adani can expect no leniency from US prosecutors. His share prices and ability to borrow abroad cheaply will be hit, as will India’s image.
Cynical Indians will say that bribes are standard practice in India. But the sign of good management is that it observes the 11th commandment—Thou shalt not be caught. » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/modis-bad-judgment-choosing-national-champions