The Adani Group launched in 2014, with the support of the Australian and Queensland Governments, a mining and rail project, the Carmichael coal mine, in Queensland's Galilee Basin, for $21.5 billion over the life of the project, i.e. 60 years. Its annual capacity would be 10 Mt of thermal coal.
In response to pressure by environmental activists, some international banks refused to finance it. The mine has drawn criticism for its environmental impacts on the Great Barrier Reef, water usage, and carbon emissions, leading to a campaign known as Stop Adani, which put pressure on the Big Four banks in Australia not to finance the mine. In November 2018, Adani Australia announced that the Carmichael project would be 100% financed by Adani Group resources.
In 2015, the then-head of Adani's Australian mining division came under scrutiny due to his association with a mining pollution incident in Zambia, sparking renewed concerns about Adani's suitability to manage the Carmichael coal mine. According to a collaborative report from Environmental Justice Australia, Jeyakumar Janakaraj held significant positions at a mining company that faced criminal charges related to the contamination of the Kafue River in Zambia. This occurred before he assumed leadership role of Adani's operations in Australia. Specifically, Janakaraj served as the operations director at Konkola Copper Mines in 2010, when the company faced legal charges concerning the discharge of hazardous wastewater into the river. However, the Australian Government characterised Adani's omission of Janakaraj's involvement in the African pollution incident as a "mistake." Although, under section 489 of Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, presenting inaccurate or deceptive information could potentially constitute an offence, the federal government opted not to pursue any legal action against Adani.
The Australian Government has been taken to the Federal Court of Australia by the Australian Conservation Foundation twice, once in 2018 and once in March 2020 (still ongoing as of September 2020), relating to its contravention and alleged contravention of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 with respect to the impact of the Carmichael mine on groundwater and the country's water resources. In July 2019, the project received its final approvals from the government, and construction of the mine commenced.
In 2020, Adani Mining changed its name to Bravus Mining and Resources.
On 29 December 2021, Bravus announced that the first shipment of high-quality coal from the Carmichael mine had been assembled at the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) in Bowen ready for export as planned.
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Cronyism
Chairman and MD Gautam Adani has been described as being close to former Chief Minister of Gujarat and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This has led to allegations of cronyism as his firms have won many Indian energy and infrastructure government contracts. In 2012, an Indian government audit accused Modi of giving low cost fuel from a Gujarat state-run gas company to the Adani group and other companies. In Jharkhand, the BJP-led state government made an exception to its energy policy for Adani's Godda power plant. Both the Adani Group and Modi's government have denied allegations of cronyism.
The Forbes Asia noted that Adani Group has over the years leased almost 7,350 hectares of land from the government for the amount as small as " one U.S. cent a square meter (the rate maxed out at 45 cents a square meter). He in turn has sublet this land to other companies, including state-owned Indian Oil Co., for as much as $11 a square meter". Between 2005 and 2007, Adani group acquired around 1200 hectares of land meant for grazing (gauchar) from the villagers for Adani SEZ. In Kutch, Adani group acquired 930,770 square meters of land from the villagers for 19 cents per square meter for its power plant leading to significant environmental damage. Villagers living in Adani SEZ alleged that the land was signed off by village chiefs without their knowledge. Adani group's subsidiary, Adani Ports & SEZ currently operates 15 ports across all Indian states. The Adani group controls seven airports in India, six of which were acquired for 50 years in a bid after an alleged change of rules by the Modi government that had disallowed the group from bidding.
Most Adani Group projects outside of India were announced after Narendra Modi's visits to said countries or meetings with their heads of state. In 2021, after a meeting with Modi, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told an official from the electricity board that Modi had pressured him to transfer a wind energy project to the Adani Group. After Modi's visit to Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi government under Sheikh Hasina signed a deal with the Adani Group to import electricity from Jharkhand. The opposition later argued that the deal was signed under pressure from the Modi government. The deal is currently under scrutiny of Bangladesh's interim government.
A report by The Washington Post revealed that in May 2025, India’s state insurer LIC India proposed investing $3.9 billion in Adani shares. Subsequently, LIC invested $585 million in Adani Ports when the company needed to pay off its existing debt. This move highlighted Adani’s influence within India’s Modi government and was criticized as a misuse of public funds.
Leverage
The company's corporate debt totalled $30 billion in 2022. In August 2022, CreditSights, a unit of Fitch Ratings, warned that Adani's recent aggressive expansion had hurt the group's cash flow and credit metrics. It also stated that a potential "worst-case scenario" could lead the group to end up in a debt trap and a potential default. The CreditSights report garnered significant attention for its dire assessment of Adani's "deeply overleveraged" book; after outreach by Adani, CreditSights softened its language but kept its main conclusion.
Stock market rigging
In 2007, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) prohibited multiple Adani companies from engaging in the purchase or sale of securities for a period of two years. This action was taken due to their involvement in a manipulation scheme that occurred between 1999 and 2001 to artificially influence stock prices. This manipulation was carried out through entities overseen by Ketan Parekh, the stockbroker who was the main accused in India's biggest stock market scandal. After paying a fine of $140,000, the companies were eventually permitted to recommence their trading activities.
Allegations of bid rigging
In March 2023, Adani group won a bid for the coal block North West of Madheri, where the only other bidder was Cavill Mining Private Limited, a minimum of two bidders are required for the first time auction of a commercial mine. According to an investigation by Scroll.in, Cavill Mining Private Limited is the main promoter of Adicorp Enterprises. Adicorp Enterprises has also been alleged by Hindenburg to have funnelled funds between Adani companies. This has raised concerns of bid rigging and collusion. Adani group also faced accusations of bid-rigging by the Indian National Congress after winning a contract to supply 6,600 MW of electricity to Maharashtra.
Tax evasion
On 27 February 2010, Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Rajesh Adani, managing director of Adani Enterprises Ltd., on charges of custom duty evasion amounting to ₹80 lakh.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an Indian journalist working for the Economic and Political Weekly, co-authored an article about the Adani Group's tax evasion following which Adani Power sent a legal notice to the Economic and Political Weekly. Fearing an expensive lawsuit by one of India's biggest corporate houses EPW then decided to take down the article, prompting Paranjoy Guha Thakurta's resignation.
In August 2017, Indian customs alleged the Adani Group was diverting millions of funds from the company's books to Adani family tax havens overseas. Adani was accused of using a Dubai shell company to divert the funds. The details of a $235 million diversion were obtained and published by The Guardian. In 2014, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) mapped out a complex money trail from India through South Korea and Dubai, and eventually to an offshore company in Mauritius allegedly owned by Vinod Shantilal Adani, the older brother of Gautam Adani. Same year, DRI forwarded a letter to the then SEBI chairperson,U. K. Sinha, along with a CD containing evidence suggesting the improper diversion of Rs. 2,323 crore. Additionally, they provided two investigative notes, cautioning that the group might be involved in manipulating the stock market through funds allegedly siphoned off using the strategy of overvaluing power equipment imports. However, SEBI did not publicly acknowledge the receipt of this letter and the accompanying evidence from DRI until September 2023, when it was disclosed before the Supreme Court of India.
Between December 2021 and November 2023, Swiss authorities froze a total of $310 million in five different accounts linked to Adani group following investigations into money laundering.
On October 7 2025, Reuters reported that India’s DRI initiated an investigation into Adani Defence in March 2025 over alleged customs duty evasion totaling approximately ₹77 crore (US$8.0 million). According to two government sources and a document reviewed by Reuters, the case concerns the company’s alleged misclassification of certain missile components as exempt from import duties and taxes.
Evasion of Customs Duty
In October 2025, the Supreme Court of India issued a notice to Adani Enterprises while hearing a plea by the Customs Department, which alleged that the company had imported gold and silver without paying tariffs by using duty-free credit entitlement certificates issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade.
Corporate governance issue
According to Bloomberg News, the group has been found to be maintaining dubious business relations with an engineering contracting firm, Howe Engineering Projects. This firm acquired the engineering business of PMC Project in 2016. In the past, PMC Projects, an Adani contractor, was accused of inflating the value of imported power and infrastructure goods by nearly ₹1,500 crore. Howe, now a separate entity, continues to work as an Adani contractor (just like PMC Projects) for major ports and railway lines being built in India. Deloitte raised concerns in May 2023 about payments made by Adani's ports company to Howe, unable to determine whether Howe should be considered a related party. Also, Adani Group had not publicly disclosed these payments until Deloitte highlighted them.
Stock manipulation and accounting fraud allegations
In January 2023, Hindenburg Research published the findings of a two-year investigation alleging that Adani had engaged in market manipulation and accounting malpractices. The report accused Adani of pulling "the largest con in corporate history" and "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades". Hindenburg also disclosed that it was holding short positions on Adani Group companies. Bonds and shares of companies associated with Adani experienced a decline of more than $104 billion in market value after the accusations, representing approximately half of the market value. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said Hindenburg's Adani Report was "highly credible and extremely well researched." Adani denied the fraud allegations as without merit.
On 29 January, Adani released a 413-page response to the Hindenburg report, calling Hindenburg's conduct a "calculated securities fraud" and the report a "calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India." Hindenburg characterised the response as failing to engage with the issues raised by its initial report, and an exercise in obfuscation under the garb of nationalism. On 1 February, Adani cancelled its planned $2.5 billion (Rs 20,000 crore) Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) citing market volatility, and announced that it would return the FPO money to investors. Reserve Bank of India sought details from banks on exposure to Adani firms. Citigroup's wealth unit stopped extending margin loans to its clients against securities of Adani Group. Credit Suisse Group AG stopped accepting bonds of Adani Group companies as collateral for margin loans to its private banking clients. S&P Dow Jones Indices removed Adani Enterprises from its sustainability index.
Norway's Oil Fund, which had already shed a bulk of its Adani shares pre-Hindenburg report, divested its entire stake following the report.
On 19 May, on prima facie, a committee formed by the Supreme Court of India communicated its inability to conclude regarding the existence of a regulatory failure concerning the accusation of stock price manipulation by the group. This was primarily due to the insufficient information provided in the explanations by the SEBI's investigation. Earlier on 29 April, SEBI requested a six-month extension to conclude its investigation, instead of the initially given two months provided on 2 March. However, the Supreme Court granted a three-month extension and directed SEBI to complete the probe by 14 August 2023.
On 24 June 2023, Adani Group's share value took a significant dive, following reports that United States Department of Justice and US Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating the corporation's communications with its US-based investors, spurred by a report from a short seller.
On 31 August 2023, Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) put forth allegations asserting that a substantial amount of funds, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, were directed into publicly traded stocks of the Adani Group. These investments purportedly occurred by means of investment funds situated in Mauritius, which are characterised as possessing a lack of transparency. These funds were reportedly associated with partners connected to the promoter family. Supporting evidence presented in the report indicates that these entities engaged in protracted activities involving the acquisition and divestiture of Adani stock through offshore mechanisms, thereby concealing their active participation. This covert engagement apparently yielded significant financial gains. Additionally, the documentation suggests that the overseeing investment firm compensated a company belonging to Vinod Adani for advisory services pertinent to their investment pursuits.
In October 2023, the National Financial Reporting Authority initiated an investigation, reaching out to several audit firms involved in examining the financial records of the Adani Group's listed companies. The Adani group also reported that the government was probing financial records of Mumbai International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport, both operated by the group.
On 3 January 2024, the Supreme Court ordered SEBI to complete its probe within 90 days (3 months), sparked by allegations from short-seller Hindenburg Research. The Court dismissed requests for an SIT or CBI investigation and shifted focus to Hindenburg's conduct.
In March 2024, Seven Adani group firms were issued show cause notices by the SEBI for alleged "violation of related party transactions and non-compliance in listing regulations."
After Hindenburg's allegations of fraud against the Adani group, GQG Partners LLC, an investment firm founded by Rajiv Jain purchased shares worth $4.6 billion in six Adani group subsidiaries. In September 2024, GQG Partners was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for hindering whistleblower protections, through its restrictive Non-disclosure agreements that disallowed employees from reporting potential violations.
Shares of the Adani Group fell sharply, with Adani Green Energy dropping 16% on 20 November 2024, after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged violations, including hindering whistleblower protections. The allegations added to growing concerns over corporate governance within the conglomerate.
Presence in Kenya
In July 2024, a whistleblower alleged that the Kenya Airports Authority had signed a $1.85 billion deal for the Adani Group to manage the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for a period of 30 years in a build–operate–transfer move. The alleged deal was brokered by ALG Global, a Spanish firm, and would be financed majorly by Kenyan taxpayers with full control of the airport granted to Adani Group for the 30 years. Following widespread protests, in September 2024, the Kenyan High Court temporarily suspended the proposal, to allow for judicial review. The whistleblower, Nelson Amenya, fears for his life.
On 16 September 2024, Adani group and Africa50 were given a $1.3 billion concession in a public-private partnership by the Kenyan government to build power transmission lines. On 25 October, Kenyan court suspended $736 million deal between Kenya Electrical Transmission Company and Adani Group's Adani Energy Solutions.
In October 2024, former Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga said he was introduced to Adani Group by Narendra Modi who organised a visit by Kenyan delegation to the projects of the company.
In November 2024, Kenya's President William Ruto has cancelled two significant deals with India's Adani Group: a lease agreement for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the country's main international airport, and a contract with the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company. This announcement came during Ruto's state of the nation address, just a day after Adani's directors faced charges in a New York court for alleged bribery and fraud.
The airport deal, valued at $2.5 billion, involved a 30-year lease of JKIA and had been approved by the Kenya Airports Authority without public hearings. Experts had advised conducting a public tender for such a significant agreement. The proposal from Adani sought "favorable tax policies" from the Kenyan government, which raised concerns among critics. The deal had sparked significant backlash, leading to anti-government protests and a strike by airport workers.
Before the cancellation, President Ruto had dismissed reports about the airport deal as "fake news." Just a week prior, Kenya's transport cabinet secretary defended the Adani Group and the airport agreement in parliament. The cancellation has been welcomed by some Kenyans, including whistleblower Nelson Amenya, who views it as a victory for citizen empowerment and an indication that change is possible in the country.
Arms export to Israel
In 2018, Adani Defence & Aerospace announced a joint venture with Elbit Systems, Israel's primary defence manufacturer, to produce Hermes 900 military drones in India. In February 2024, 20 Hermes 900 drones were supplied to Israel. In April 2024, the Indian government under the BJP abstained from the UN vote calling for an arms embargo on Israel. This decision has been linked to Adani's military exports to Israel.
Manipulating Wikipedia entries
A February 2023 article in The Signpost said that the Adani team has been manipulating Wikipedia entries using sock puppet accounts to insert promotional material and remove or edit criticism.
