Shares of India’s Adani Group suffered a sharp sell-off on Friday, wiping out approximately $12.5 billion in market capitalization, after fresh developments in a U.S. fraud case rattled investor confidence. The decline followed a report by Reuters that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had asked a court for permission to personally email summons to group founder Gautam Adani and senior executive Sagar Adani in connection with alleged fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme.
The Reuters report, published late Thursday after Indian markets had closed, triggered an immediate reaction when trading opened on Friday. Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship firm, emerged as the worst-performing stock on India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index. Its shares plunged 10.65% to 1,864.2 rupees, significantly underperforming the broader market, which fell just 0.95% by the close. Across the conglomerate, Adani-linked stocks ended the session down between 3.4% and 14.54%, reflecting widespread selling pressure.
At the center of the renewed turmoil is a U.S. indictment unsealed in November 2024, which accuses Adani Group executives of participating in a scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure electricity purchases from Adani Green Energy, a key subsidiary of the group. Under U.S. law, companies that raise funds from American investors are prohibited from paying bribes overseas to win business and from soliciting investments using false or misleading statements.
According to court filings cited by Reuters, Indian authorities have previously refused two requests by U.S. regulators to formally serve summons on the Adanis, efforts the SEC has reportedly been pursuing since last year. The regulator’s latest move to seek court approval for direct electronic service underscores the difficulties it has faced in advancing the case through traditional diplomatic and legal channels.
The Adani Group has consistently denied the allegations, describing them as “baseless,” and has said it will pursue “all possible legal recourse” to defend itself. The conglomerate did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the most recent SEC filing, dated January 21, leaving investors to speculate on the potential legal and financial consequences.
Market analysts say the sudden revival of the case caught many investors off guard. Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst, told Reuters that market participants had largely assumed there were no outstanding legal issues hanging over the group. “The SEC filing seems to have come out of the blue,” he said, adding that the absence of a clear timeline for the next steps could keep uncertainty alive for weeks.
The renewed legal scrutiny comes at a time when broader market sentiment in India is already fragile, amplifying the impact of negative news. With regulatory risks once again in focus and no immediate resolution in sight, analysts expect the issue to continue weighing on Adani Group stocks in the near term, prolonging volatility for one of India’s most prominent corporate empires.
