Gautam and Sagar Adani knew their renewable energy company was under U.S. investigation for suspected bribery when they sold part of India's largest solar park to France's TotalEnergies, prosecutors allege in legal documents reviewed by Reuters.
TotalEnergies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday on whether it knew the Adanis were being probed by U.S authorities over an alleged bribery and fraud scheme when it bought the Khavda solar stake.
In September 2024, TotalEneriges paid $444 million into a joint venture with Adani Green Energy for a 50% stake in 1.15 gigawatts of solar installations at the Khavda solar park — the project at the heart of the bribery charges.
The French oil and gas company is not named in the criminal case. The Adani Group has called the allegations baseless. It did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment about this story.
TotalEnergies bought a 20% stake in Adani Green Energy in January 2021 - after the Indian company won what was then the world's largest solar order, and just months before the alleged payments to officials began.
Sangkaran Ratnam, TotalEnergies' country chair for India and the French firm's nominee to the board of directors of Adani Green Energy, did not respond to a request for comment on whether he had been aware of the investigation at the time TotalEnergies bought the stake in the Khavda assets.
