Athira Sethu
Kochi, 26 November 2024
TotalEnergies has reportedly said that it will cease any further financial investment in Adani Group until the allegations of corruption faced by some Adani officials are clarified.
The energy company is of the view that it came across these accusations through public reports by the US authorities, which involve charging several executives of the Adani Group pertaining to an alleged corruption scheme in connection with Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL).
On 21 November, the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicted Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani and AGEL’s CEO Vneet Jaain for allegedly bribing Indian government officials to gain solar energy contracts for AGEL.
TotalEnergies has a minority stake in AGEL since January 2021 and currently holds 19.75%. TotalEnergies and Adani Renewable Energy Sixty Four Ltd recently entered into a joint venture for investments in India into renewable energy areas.
TotalEnergies will invest $444 million under the deal. The firm will oversee a portfolio of 1,150 megawatts of renewable energy.
Apart from its holding in AGEL, TotalEnergies also owns 37.4% of Adani Total Gas, a firm that has natural gas supply lines to households as well as cars. The company had earlier kept a planned investment in the green hydrogen project by Adani on hold following a last year’s US short seller who brought up some concerns. TotalEnergies said it was not aware of any investigations into the alleged corruption when it made its investments.
