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Indian opposition lawmakers demand parliament discuss

Adani

allegations

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Chairman refuses discussion demands as against parliament

rules

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Both houses of parliament suspended

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Adani dollar bond prices fall as investors cut exposure

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Most Adani stocks pare gains from early trade

By Tom Westbrook, Yantoultra Ngui and YP Rajesh

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - India's

parliament was suspended on Monday after opposition lawmakers

disrupted it demanding a discussion over bribery allegations

against the Adani Group and Adani dollar bond prices fell to

almost one-year lows as investors and lenders weighed the case.

The Indian conglomerate's billionaire chairman, Gautam

Adani, and seven other people were last week charged by U.S.

authorities with agreeing to pay around $265 million in bribes

to Indian government officials.

The charges related to alleged payments to obtain contracts

that could yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, as well as

to develop India's largest solar power project.

The charges also included making misleading statements to

the public despite being made aware of the U.S. investigation in

2023.

The Adani Group has said the accusations as well as those

levelled by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a

parallel civil case are baseless and that it will seek "all

possible legal recourse".

Indian opposition parties, who have consistently targeted

Adani for what they say is his proximity to Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, had said last week that they would raise the

issue in parliament when it meets on Monday.

"As the parliament session begins, the first step the

government should take is to have a detailed discussion on the

Adani saga which has the potential of tarnishing India's image

at the global stage," Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main

opposition Congress party, posted on X just as proceedings began

in the upper house of parliament.

This is the demand of the opposition alliance Congress

leads, as the "hard earned investments" of tens of millions of

retail investors are at stake, Kharge said.

Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Vice President of India and the

chairman of the upper house, said he had received 13 notices

from lawmakers demanding a discussion on the Adani issue but he

could not allow them as they did not conform to rules.

Dhankhar asked Kharge to speak but was interrupted by

lawmakers pressing their demand for a discussion, causing him to

suspend the chambers briefly and later for the rest of the day.

OPPOSITION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ADANI

Similar scenes played out in the lower house a little later,

forcing the speaker to suspend business for the day there as

well.

Indian opposition parties have in the past accused Modi's

government of protecting and favouring Adani and his businesses,

charges both deny.

Modi's opponents say he has longstanding ties with Adani,

going back nearly two decades to when Modi was chief minister of

the western state of Gujarat, to which Adani also belongs.

They accuse the government of favouring the group in

business deals, charges the government has rejected as "wild

allegations".

The government has not commented on the indictment but

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that it is for the

Adani Group to deal with and defend itself and that the law will

take its course.

The disruption in parliament came as Adani dollar bond

prices fell as investors cut their exposure to the conglomerate

and some bankers considered pausing fresh lending in the wake of

the indictment.

Banks and regulators have been reviewing exposure to the

ports-to-power conglomerate in the wake of the charges.

The Singapore banking sector's overall exposure to the Adani

Group, is small, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on

Monday.

"Banks have in place measures to review and manage their

exposures to borrowers and counterparties," an MAS spokesperson

said in a statement.

MOST ADANI STOCKS IN GREEN

DBS Group, Singapore's biggest bank by assets, had

said in early 2023 that its exposure to the Adani Group was

S$1.3 billion ($967 million). DBS declined comment in response

to request from Reuters.

Some global banks are considering temporarily halting fresh

credit to the company after the U.S. indictment but maintaining

existing loans, according to several bankers spoken to by

Reuters, raising questions about its access to future funding.

"In the near term, the U.S indictment is likely to constrain

the group's access to financing, particularly in the offshore

market," a Lucror Analytics note published on Smartkarma said.

Cash balances of Adani portfolio companies stood at $6.33

billion as of first half of the current fiscal year ending March

2025, the company said.

The cash balances exceed long term debt repayments for the

next 28 months, Adani said in a presentation on the credit and

financial performance of its group companies, which it regularly

shares after its quarterly results.

The crisis is the second in two years to hit the Adani

group, which was last year accused by short seller Hindenburg

Research of improperly using offshore tax havens. The company

denied those claims.

In Asian trade on Monday, some of the most liquid debts,

issued by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell

between 1 cent and 2 cents, with similar selling in Adani

Transmission debt.

Ports bonds maturing in 2027 were down 1.6

cent to 88.98 cents on the dollar, having lost nearly 7 cents in

face value since U.S. prosecutors issued the charges last week.

Longer-dated Ports bonds

were down on Monday and have lost between 8 cents and 10 cents

in face value on the news.

Adani Transmission debt maturing in May

2036 fell 1.8 cents on Monday for a loss of more than 7 cents

since Wednesday.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks led by Adani Enterprises

lost $27.9 billion in market value over two sessions

last week after the U.S. charges.

On Monday, most Adani-backed stocks pared gains from early

trade, with Adani Energy Solutions reversing course to

trade down about 2%. Eight of 10 Adani stocks were trading in

the green at 0643 GMT.