The financial and legal challenges facing Adani Group continue to intensify.

• The Indian conglomerate, Adani Group, is facing backlash from investors and partners who are reevaluating their relationships with the company following bribery and fraud allegations made by U.S. authorities.
• The indictment of the billionaire founder of Indian conglomerates on bribery and fraud charges has brought projects and investments linked to their global businesses under scrutiny.

The Indian conglomerate, Adani Group, is facing backlash from investors and partners who are reevaluating their relationships with the company following bribery and fraud allegations made by U.S. authorities.

The U.S. indictment of the Indian conglomerate's billionaire founder on bribery and fraud charges has brought attention to projects and investments linked to its global businesses.

The US indictment may limit the group's ability to obtain new financing, particularly in offshore capital markets, according to Leonard Law, a senior credit analyst at Lucro Analytics. The group has stated that they are innocent of any wrongdoing.

The allegations are "more severe" than those from short-seller Hindenburg Research's report in 2023, and the legal proceedings are likely to be lengthy, he stated.

Adani Group companies' dollar bonds are being monitored closely by Fitch Ratings, with a potential downgrade in the future.

The potential contagion risk resulting from the action could lead to higher corporate governance risk, which may impact access to funding and liquidity.

After the bombshell indictment last week, Kenyan president William Ruto cancelled airport and electricity deals worth about $2.5 billion with the group, according to Reuters.

On Monday, TotalEnergies announced that it had suspended new investments linked to Adani Group due to not being informed of the ongoing corruption investigation.

TotalEnergies will not make any new financial contributions to the Adani group of companies until the accusations against the group's individuals and their consequences have been clarified.

On Monday, the shares of the French oil major, which owns a 19.75% stake in Adani Green Energy and a 50% holding in joint ventures with Adani Green, experienced a 2.4% decline.

The US International Development Finance Corp has announced it will review its previous agreements to provide a $553 million loan to a Sri Lankan port development backed by the Adani Group.

An official from the development agency stated that DFC is currently evaluating the consequences of the recent DOJ announcement regarding allegations against Adani.

Summons, more probes, calls for arrest

Adani and seven others were indicted by New York Federal Prosecutors last week for bribing Indian government officials to secure solar energy contracts worth over $2 billion in profits over 20 years.

While raising more than $3 billion in capital for energy contracts, the company misled U.S. and international investors about its compliance with antibribery and anticorruption practices.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly summoned Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group, and his nephew, Sagar Adani, over their alleged involvement in bribery.

On Tuesday, representatives from the Adani group did not respond to CNBC's request for comments. Earlier, the company had stated that the accusations made by U.S. authorities were unfounded and that they would pursue all legal options available.

According to domestic media, India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has called for the arrest of Adani.

The Indian securities watchdog is reportedly investigating whether the Adani group failed to disclose information about the U.S. DOJ's bribery charges.

On Monday, the parliament in the country suspended its proceedings due to disruptions caused by lawmakers seeking a debate on the corruption accusations against Adani.

A new petition has been filed in the Indian Supreme Court to investigate bribery allegations made by the authorities, as reported by local media.

Last year, the majority of Adani Group's efforts were focused on overcoming a damaging report by Hindenburg Research that alleged financial wrongdoing and stock manipulation.

The stock price of Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of an Indian group, has fallen over 20% since the indictment notice was issued, while Adani Green Energy, which is currently under scrutiny, has lost more than 35%.

Since then, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shares have dropped 11%, while Adani Power has shed approximately 15%.