Billionaire Gautam Adani’s bid to resolve fraud and bribery charges in the United States has stalled, prolonging the regulatory shadow that continues to weigh on the Adani Group’s overseas ambitions, according to Bloomberg.
Talks between Adani’s representatives — including top US lawyers — and American officials have lost momentum in recent months, as bilateral tensions between Washington and New Delhi escalated over trade, Russian oil imports, and India’s conflict with Pakistan. Trump administration officials have reportedly conveyed that no settlement will be reached as long as relations remain strained.
Adani faces a five-count indictment from federal prosecutors over an alleged $250 million bribery scheme in India to secure solar-power contracts. Parallel civil proceedings by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also remain unresolved, with the SEC still trying to serve legal papers to Adani through Indian authorities.
The Adani Group has consistently denied the charges, but the ongoing case has prevented the tycoon from traveling to the US and remains an obstacle in securing deals with American lenders. Global partners too have grown cautious, with France’s TotalEnergies halting fresh investments in Adani Total Gas and the group losing out on a $2.6 billion airport and transmission project in Kenya.
A planned $10 billion US investment announced after Trump’s election win is now on hold. The stalemate underscores how Adani — alongside Reliance Industries’ Mukesh Ambani — risks becoming collateral damage in the geopolitical tussle between Washington and New Delhi.
