Gautam Adani on US indictment: ‘Every attack makes us stronger’
Billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani on Saturday responded to allegations against him by the United States prosecutors, saying “every attack makes him stronger”
Addressing the 51st Gem and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, the Adani Group chairperson said,”As most of you would have read less than 2 weeks back, we faced a set of allegations from the US about compliance practises at Adani Green Energy. This is not the first time we have faced such challenges. What I can tell you is that every attack makes us stronger and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone.”
“Despite a lot of the vested reporting, no one from the Adani side has been charged with any violation of the FCPA or any conspiracy to obstruct justice. In today’s world, negativity spreads faster than facts. As we work through the legal process, I want to reconfirm our absolute commitment to world-class regulatory compliance,” Adani was quoted by ANI as saying.
US allegations against Gautam Adani
Gautam Adani has been charged with involvement in a plan to allegedly pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials for solar energy project contracts.
Adani and his executives have also been accused of making false and misleading statements to investors and lenders in the United States regarding the company’s anti-bribery commitments and practices while raising money from them, Reuters said.
The business conglomerate in a statement called the allegations “baseless”.
“The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” the group said in a statement.
The allegations against Adani have kicked up a political storm in India with the opposition parties including the Congress demanding a probe against the tycoon.
The Narendra Modi government, said that bribery allegations against Gautam Adani is a legal issue between private firms and the US Department of Justice.
“We see this as a legal matter involving private firms and individuals and the US Department of Justice.
Obviously, there are established procedures and legal avenues in such cases, which we believe would be followed. The government of India was not informed in advance on the issue. We have not had any conversation with the US government on it,” ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.