Adani Group Seeks to Settle SEBI Case

(Reuters) – Several entities linked to the Adani Group have approached the India markets regulator seeking to settle a case that accuses them of violating public shareholding regulations at some listed companies, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had sent notices to Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship company, as well as Adani Power, Adani Ports, and Adani Energy alleging they had wrongfully categorized the shareholding of certain entities.

The breaches of a minimum public shareholding requirement date back to 2020, and the SEBI had sought to recover about 25 billion rupees ($295 million) from the entities, ET said.

Adani Enterprises and one of its directors, Vinay Prakash, as well as an Ambuja Cements director, Ameet Desai, have proposed a settlement, ET reported.

Another proposal for a 2.8-million-rupee ($33,035) settlement is from Emerging India Focus Funds (EIFF), a Mauritius-based foreign portfolio investor that the SEBI says is linked to Vinod Adani, brother of Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, ET said.

The report did not have information regarding other settlement applications.

The proposals were submitted last week in response to a show-cause notice issued by the SEBI on Sept. 27 to about 30 Adani Group entities, the newspaper reported.

The entities have contested the charges in response to the notice, and the settlement application is only a precautionary measure, ET added, citing a source.

The Adani Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Last month, U.S. authorities accused Gautam Adani and some top executives in the Adani Group of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and of misleading U.S. investors during fund raises there, charges the group has called 'baseless'. ($1 = 84.7580 Indian rupees)