Adani group shares fall after US SEC seeks to bypass Indian government to serve summons (updated)

Adani Energy Solutions

23/01/2026 08:36

Corrects paragraph 5 to make clear that the SEC civil case against the Adanis is different from the still pending U.S. Department of Justice criminal case

Adani group stocks down 3.4% to 14.54%

US SEC asked court for permission to personally email summonses to Gautam Adani, nephew

Adani group has called allegations 'baseless'

By Urvi Dugar

Jan 23 (Reuters) - India's Adani group firms shed $12.5 billion in market cap on Friday, after a U.S. markets regulator asked a court for permission to personally email summonses to founder Gautam Adani and group executive Sagar Adani over alleged fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme.

Reuters reported the filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday after the Indian markets closed.

On Friday, the group's flagship company, Adani Enterprises ADEL.NS, was the top percentage loser on India's benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI. While the firm's shares fell 10.65% to 1,864.2 rupees, the Nifty declined 0.95% at close.

Group shares settled down between 3.4% and 14.54%.

U.S. authorities in November 2024 accused Adani group executives of being part of a scheme to pay bribes to Indian officials for buying electricity produced by Adani Green Energy ADNA.NS, a unit of the Adani group. The SEC filed a civil case against Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani, which is separate from the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal indictment against the Adanis and several other defendants. The Justice Department case remains open, court records show.

U.S. law prohibits foreign companies that raise money from American investors from paying bribes overseas to secure business, and it also bars them from soliciting investment on the basis of false or misleading statements.

India has previously refused two requests to serve the summons which the SEC has been trying to send since last year, according to the filings.

Adani group has called the allegations "baseless" and said it would seek "all possible legal recourse" to defend itself. It had not immediately responded to Reuters' request for comment on the latest SEC filing, dated January 21.

"Market participants assumed there's nothing pending and that the group has been cleared, so the SEC filing seems (to have come) out of the blue," said Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst.

With no clear timeline for the next steps, Baliga said he expects the issue could linger for at least another fortnight, noting that overall market sentiment was already weak.

 (Reporting by Urvi Dugar and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Daniel Wallis)

 ((UrviManoj.Dugar@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9558725583;))