Silence From Modi Allies Shows Adani Has Political Cover
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allies have largely refrained from commenting on the US’s shock bribery allegations against billionaire Gautam Adani, a sign of the strong political support he enjoys in India.
The tycoon, who founded the Adani Group and is considered a close ally of Modi, has invested across Asia’s third-largest economy, including in states run by the prime minister’s coalition partners. He’s now accused by the US in a $250 million bribery plot involving Indian state officials and concealing it from American investors.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority in the parliament after national elections earlier this year and was forced to turn to coalition partners to form a government. The parties are mainly regional groups, dominating in states like Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, which have major infrastructure projects spearheaded by the Adani Group. Their silence on the grave charges Adani faces show how hard it would be to initiate any kind of formal investigation into the port-to-energy conglomerate in India.
“Part of his protection has to do with the fact that he is an integral part of how states run and even how diplomacy runs,” said Neelanjan Sircar, an associate professor at Ahmedabad University. It’s not just Adani’s connection to Modi that has been beneficial to the billionaire but an “intricate web of connections” which he has “throughout the political class,” Sircar said.
The Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), Modi’s key regional parties in the eastern India state of Bihar, declined to comment on the US charges against Adani.
Modi’s biggest coalition partner, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, addressed the matter briefly in the local assembly on Friday, saying his government will study the indictment and “act on it,” the Press Trust of India reported. The local government will examine next steps, including the possibility of canceling the power-supply contract linked to the Adani group, state Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav told news agency Reuters.
The US indictment has dominated the news since Thursday, with Modi’s rivals renewing questions on the prime minister’s relationship with Adani and calling for federal and parliamentary probes into the bribery allegations. Opposition lawmakers demanded a debate about the businessman at the winter parliamentary session, which kicked off Monday, before proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday.
From ports to electricity and airports, Adani’s infrastructure network not only dominates large parts of India’s economy, it’s also aligned with areas Modi has prioritized for development.
“It won’t be easy to initiate a probe against the Adani Group,” said Amit Ranjan, research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. “It depends on how politically united” the opposition’s actions are, he said.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Adani Group last year announced plans to build a data center in Visakhapatnam, the largest city in the state, on top of the $2.4 billion already invested in the region in multiple sectors, like ports, logistics, and renewable energy. In October, Naidu met with executives from the company to discuss more investment opportunities in sectors ranging from ports and mining to tourism and AI.
The Adani Group has also made substantial investments in states that are not governed by the BJP or its allies. In 2024, the group announced $5.1 billion worth of investments into data centers, cement units and power storage project in Tamil Nadu, a state that the BJP has never governed. In neighboring Telangana, which is currently controlled by the Indian National Congress, the group signed contracts this year for over $1.5 billion of investment.
The bribery allegations relate to a senior official in Andhra Pradesh before Naidu took power in the state in June. The Adani Group has denied the allegations and said it would seek legal recourse. Andhra Pradesh’s former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who ran the state during the period mentioned in the indictment, denied any wrongdoing.
Naidu said Friday that the allegations have damaged the image of the state and was a “very sad development,” according to the PTI report.
--With assistance from Preeti Soni and Advait Palepu.
(Updates with comments from Andhra Pradesh finance minister in sixth paragraph.)
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