MUMBAI — When Gautam Adani, Asia’s second-richest man and founder of rising Indian conglomerate Adani Group, was indicted in a U.S. federal court on bribery charges, investors braced for a shock similar to last year, when the company was roiled by accusations of financial improprieties by short-seller Hindenburg Research. That episode wiped $130 billion from the group’s market value.
So far, the dives Adani affiliates have taken on the stock market are smaller than in the previous crisis, but the indictment still managed to raise eyebrows. Foreign investors are rethinking their appetite for corporate governance risk in Indian investments, while lawmakers and authorities are set to investigate whether the conglomerate is guilty of other misdeeds, raising concerns that the shock waves from the current crisis may linger.
