DECCAN INQUIRER
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EDITOR: NAGARAJA.M.R ....
VOL.22 .. .ISSUE...56……12/07/2026
Adani Group’s heavy debt liabilities should not lead to the Finance Ministry forcing PSU banks to provide it relief at the cost of the public
by E A S Sarma
To
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman
Union Finance Minister
Dear Smt Sitharaman,
I refer to my earlier letter of 23rd November 2024 addressed to you on the larger implications of the recent US District Court’s indictment of the Adani Group on their dubious role in firming up a regressive solar power agreement with the AP DISCOMs and the equally dubious role played by the concerned Central Ministries/SECI/SEBI/CBI etc., calling for an independent judicial enquiry.
More skeletons seem to be tumbling out of the Centre’s cupboard, as indicated in my subsequent letter of 6th December, 2024 addressed to the Cabinet Secretary Evidently, as a sequel to the US indictment, the Adani Group may find it difficult to raise loans these days from external sources.
In this connection, I wish to refer to news reports that the “Adani Group has initiated talks with a clutch of investors and banks to refinance $1.1 billion worth of loans of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL)……. The loans are up for repayment in March 2025….. apart from domestic financial institutions, the group has held talks with investors and lenders from West Asia, Europe and Japan for a private placement to refinance the loan”.
The NDA government, instead of instituting an independent judicial enquiry into all issues linked to the Adani solar power sale , as suggested by some of us earlier, is dragging its feet in a desperate effort to adopt a defensive stance, perhaps at the Adani Group’s instance and trying to find all kinds of means to come to the rescue of that group. If it is so, it is unfortunate and against the public interest.
I apprehend, as indicated in the above cited news report, that the Ministry of Finance, in its anxiety to bale out the Adani Group, will as usual force helpless PSU banks to extend refinancing facilities to that Group. I would caution both the Finance Ministry and the RBI not to move in that direction, as those banks, run on deposits from millions of rural and urban depositors and the tax-payers’ equity funds, already stand exposed to the extent of Rs 88,000 Crores, out of a total of Rs 2.41 lakh crores of debt liability of the Group as on 31st March 2024.
The PSU banks are instead required to focus attention on priority sectors such as agriculture, rural development and small and marginal enterprises.
I hope that both the Finance Ministry and the RBI will exercise utmost prudence caution in dealing with the Adani Group.
Regards,
Your’s sincerely,
EA S Sarma
EAS Sarma Alleges Centre Misled US Authorities on Adani Bribery Probe
by E A S Sarma
Has someone in the NDA government at the Centre misled US authorities into believing that Indian agencies have investigated bribery allegations against the Adani Group and found no “actionable misconduct?
If it is so, it is a serious offence that calls for action under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita
To
Shri T V Somanathan
Cabinet Secretary
Dear Shri Somanathan,
Please refer to my letter of 20th June, 2026 demanding that, irrespective of the status and outcome of the ongoing proceedings before a US Court against the promoters of the Adani Group, considerng that the group is alleged to have offered a bribe to a senior Indian political leader on Indian soil, the domestic investigating agencies should gather factual information from their counterparts in the USA and independently investigate the allegations.
In the above cited letter, I demanded that the government should
institute a judicial enquiry into the multiple undue favours granted to the Adani Group, as pointed out by me from time to time, and ask SEBI/CBI to contact their counterparts in the USA to gather evidence for an investigation into allegations of bribery against the Adani Group.
The fact that there has been no meaningful response so far from you or any of the Central government agencies forces me to infer that the NDA government at the Centre has no intention whatsoever to get the allegations against Adanis investigated and it is indirectly facilitating closure of the case in the USA.
If it is so, it is unfortunate as the alleged heinous crime involving bribery of a senior Indian politician, with covert support from several central government agencies, occurred in India and the NDA government including its political leadership, seems to be colluding with the givers of the alleged bribe. It appears that the NDA government is not only unwilling to get the allegations investigated but also making covert efforts to ensure that Adanis are let off by the US regulators.
Against the above background, I have come across disturbing reports
(https://thewire.in/law/forced-to-explain-adani-u-turn-doj-cites-indian-orders-that-never-examined-bribery-allegations
&
https://www.oneindia.com/india/doj-drops-adani-case-foreign-diplomatic-legal-review-012-8137543.html
that someone in the NDA government has officially informed the US administration that “Indian authorities had already investigated many of the allegations and found ‘no actionable misconduct‘”.
In other words, some official agency at the Centre has misled the US authorities to believe that the Indian investigating agencies have already”investigated” the allegations in this case and found that there is no “actionable misconduct”, whereas, it is the NDA government at the Centre that has evidently prevented, through covert conduct, the Indian regulators and investigating agencies from investigating the alleged crime.
If it is so, it is a serious case of false disclosure aimed at granting an undue favour to private persons at the cost of public interest, an offence punishable not only under the Prevention of Corruption Act but also under the relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita.
I therefore once again demand that the government should
Institute a judicial enquiry into the multiple undue favours granted to the Adani Group, as indicated in my previous correspondence cited above
Advise SEBI/CBI and other Central investigating agencies to contact their US counterparts, get the factual details on the alleged solar bribery attempt by the Adani Group, undertake an independent domestic investigation and, if the allegations are found to be true, prosecute both bribe givers and bribe takers, as well as, all those who were involved in abetting the offence, either through connivance or through inaction
Investigate those in the government who have misled the US authorities into believing that Indian investigating agencies have investigated the Adani case and found no “actionable misconduct”
Inform the US authorities that neither the Indian regulators nor the Indian investigating agencies have so far investigated allegations against Adani
It is a matter of utmost concern that the NDA government, SEBI, CBI and other agencies should pretend that nothing has happened in the face of serious allegations of bribery of a senior public official in India. Such inaction on their part would incentivise corruption on a large-scale.
Regards,
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
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