Adani Green Energy
Profile
Adani Green Energy is the world's largest solar power developer. It is a subsidiary of the Adani Group - an energy, mining and infrastructure conglomerate that has come under repeated scrutiny for its continued expansion of its fossil fuel business notably over the Carmicheal coal mine in Queensland, Australia, that is sited on Aboriginal lands belonging to the Wangan and Jagalingou peoples. In India, Adani has also been criticized for its plans to mine for coal near elephant reserves in the Hasdeo Arand forests of Chhattisgarh state and the Mahan forests of Madhya Pradesh.
The parent company of Adani Green was the subject of a massive financial scandal in early 2023, when a report by Hindenburg Research accused company management of engaging in massive stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Notably, the Adani Group was shown to have used shares in Adani Green as collateral to obtain a multi-million loan for the Carmichael project.
Wind, solar, and hybrid power.
Adani Green Energy was profiled as part of the report "Green" Multinationals Exposed: How the Energy Transition is Being Hijacked by Corporate Interests.
Violations
Violation data is still being gathered for Adani Green Energy at this time.
Stories
Activism
UK: Health workers hang banner from statue in protest at Science Museum’s Fossil fuel sponsorship.
Health for Extinction Rebellion | August 28, 2023
These talks aim to raise awareness of two things: First – fossil fuel sponsorship of the museum, especially the upcoming gallery entitled Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery, which is sponsored by the Adani group, the world’s largest private developers of new coal mines.
UK: Science Museum Trustees Under Pressure to Drop Adani After New Investigation Into Sponsorship Deal
Culture Unstained | March 29, 2023
Revelations follow Hindenburg Research report accusing Adani of “one of the largest corporate frauds in history” exposing how it has used its so-called “green” business to help finance coal projects.
India's Adani crisis spills over into street protests as losses top $110 bln
Adnan Abidi, M. Sriram & Aditi Shah | Reuters | February 6, 2023
The crisis engulfing the Adani Group intensified on Monday as hundreds of members of India's opposition parties took to the streets to press for a probe into allegations by a U.S. short-seller against the conglomerate which triggered its market rout.
Campaigners urge bond investors to shun Adani Group
Malaya Business Insight | February 1, 2023
Activist groups participating in a campaign called Toxic Bonds said they had written to money managers, including BlackRock, Allianz and Pimco, to reject new investments or credit arrangements with Adani, and publicly divest their holdings.
UK: Teachers to Boycott New Adani-Sponsored Science Museum Gallery
Culture Unstained | July 15, 2022
The signatories pledge not to bring their students to the new Energy Revolution Gallery, due to open in 2023, if it is sponsored by coal and renewables giant Adani.
SumOfUs Calls On Banks And Investors: Get Out Of Adani
Toxic Bonds | 2022
To finance these mines Adani needs to persuade investors that it's committed to a green transition. It will try to do so at its annual shareholder meeting, which the date is expected to be called any day now. The Adani Group is going into a greenwash overdrive.
UK: Indigenous leaders urge London’s Science Museum to cut ties with Adani
Matthew Taylor | The Guardian | December 7, 2021
Leaders from communities in Australia, India and Indonesia warned that the museum’s new agreement with Adani Green Energy, whose parent company Adani Group is a major operator of coal mines and coal-fired power stations, is legitimising its “destructive coal expansion activities”.
UK: Science Museum trustees quit after the charity partners with fossil fuel company
Sam Waitt | Civil Society News | November 3, 2021
Two trustees of the UK Science Museum, Jo Foster and Hannah Fry, have resigned following the charity’s decision to partner with Adani Green Energy, a subsidiary of the Adani Group.
Adani must not be allowed to greenwash itself at UK climate summits
Market Forces | October 12, 2021
Speaking at this summit would give Gautam Adani yet another opportunity to talk up the Adani Group’s investments in renewable energy, while completely glossing over the billions of dollars that the Adani Group is pouring into new fossil fuel projects, such as the climate-wrecking Carmichael thermal coal project in Australia.
Protests occur in India as Adani solar-power installations encroach on farmland
Geoff Law | Adani Watch | August 24, 2021
Adani’s heavy-handed development of new solar-power installations has provoked protests by farmers in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Villagers allege that farmland has been forcibly occupied by an Adani Green company preparing to install a large array of solar panels.
International:
United Kingdom:
- Coal Action Network
- Culture Unstained
- Extinction Rebellion UK
- Fossil Free London
- Fossil Free Science Museum
- Health for Extinction Rebellion
- London Mining Network
- Scientists for Extinction Rebellion
- Scientists' Warning
- South Asia Solidarity Group
- UK Student Climate Network London
Australia:
Other:
- Union of Concerned Scientists - USA
- Zameen Adhikar Jumbesh - India
& Lawsuits
India: Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange impose Rs 2.24 lakh (US$2,700) fine each on Adani Green Energy for non-compliance
ZeeBiz | August 22, 2023
The fines have been imposed "for non-compliance with the requirements pertaining to the composition of the Board, including failure to appoint a woman director", the company stated in an exchange filing.
Documents Provide Fresh Insight Into Allegations of Stock Manipulation That Rocked India’s Powerful Adani Group
Anand Mangnale, Ravi Nair & NBR Arcadio | OCCRP | August 21, 2023
Two men who secretly invested in the massive conglomerate turn out to have close ties to its majority owners, the Adani family, raising questions about violations of Indian law.
Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History
Hindenburg Research | January 24, 2023
Today we reveal the findings of our 2-year investigation, presenting evidence that the INR 17.8 trillion (U.S. $218 billion) Indian conglomerate Adani Group has engaged in a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades... Another Cyprus-based entity called New Leaina Investments until June-September 2021 owned over U.S. $420 million in Adani Green Energy shares, comprising ~95% of its portfolio...
India: Credit Research Firm Red-Flags Adani Group’s House of Debt
Kaushal Shroff | The Wire | August 23, 2022
The report states the group has been expanding in virtually all of its businesses and has been rapidly expanding operations in its existing businesses, as is the case with Adani Green which is aiming to grow its operational renewable capacity almost five-fold by FY25.
India: CCI Penalises Adani Green Energy And Tata Power Company For Gun-Jumping
Avimukt Dar, Unnati Agrawal and Parth Sehan | Mondaq | October 12, 2021
The act of the parties to consummate a notifiable transaction (in full/ part) without prior approval of the CCI (or until the lapse of 210 days from the date of notification) is popularly referred to as 'gun-jumping'.
India: Andhra Pradesh High Court nullifies solar project tender including 600 Mw unit won by Adani Green Energy
Economic Times | June 18, 2021
While quashing the entire process, the court held that the state had awarded solar power tenders in contravention of the Electricity Act, 2003.
India: Green Energy firms plan to move Supreme Court to seek revision of endangered bird order
Economic Times | June 8, 2021
Power developers such as Adani Green, Tata Power Renewables, ReNew Power, Hero Future Energies and Avaada hope this will address their concerns and restrict the initial order to a smaller area than initially ordered by the apex court to help conserve the endangered bird.
India: Raj HC temporarily stays Adani's 1500 MW solar power project near Pokhran
Business Standard | September 8, 2020
The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday temporarily stayed an Adani group's joint venture project with the state government for building a 1500 MW solar energy park near Pokhran in Jaisalmer.
Australia: Banks could accidentally fund Carmichael coal via Adani bond issue
Market Forces | July 8, 2019
Fill out the form below to contact the eleven banks that coordinated this bond issue and an additional bond issue for Adani Green Energy, demanding they provide concrete reassurances that the money won’t be used to build the disastrous Carmichael mine and rail line in any way.
Environmental Impacts
Three Adani firms lose endorsement of UN-backed climate group
The Economic Times | May 9, 2023
Three Adani Group companies, including Adani Green Energy Ltd., have lost their endorsement from the world’s leading arbiter of corporate green goals, a blow to the industrial conglomerate’s attempt to reposition itself as a leader of India’s energy transition.
India: ‘Orans’ of Rajasthan in danger of being taken over by green energy projects
Rishika Pardikar | Frontline | January 12, 2023
The Rajasthan orans are home to the endangered great Indian bustard (GIB), chinkara, and the Indian desert fox. The lands are under threat now as they are sought to be used for generating “green energy”, solar in particular.
The world’s third-richest man sells the world a green dream built on coal
Chris Kay & P R Sanjai | TBS News | September 10, 2022
The $70 billion pledge is the blueprint that Adani hopes will make his empire the world's largest producer of clean power by the end of the decade. Yet his green investments so far still pale in comparison to his fossil-fuel exposure, a dichotomy that risks undermining Adani's quest to be taken seriously on the world stage.
India: Is Adani complying with court order to save Great Indian Bustard from transmission lines?
Geoff Law | Adani Watch | April 13, 2022
The measure is required to protect the Great Indian Bustard, an endangered species that requires the arid grasslands of Rajasthan for its survival. It is believed that at least one major solar-power project in Rajasthan has not complied with the directive.
U.S.: Banks hit by 'fraud' complaint to SEC over Adani SLB coal links
Jon Hay | Global Capital | October 21, 2021
An NGO has filed a complaint at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, accusing the lead managers of Adani Electricity’s sustainability-linked bond, issued in July, of securities fraud for failing to disclose properly its links with coal power.
Could Europe’s “Green Deal” end up fuelling human rights and environmental abuse?
European Network of Corporate Observatories | October 4, 2021
Total recently agreed to acquire for €2.1bn 20% of Adani Green Energy and 50% of its solar portfolio - which includes several contested projects. The immediate benefit for Total is to green its overall energy mix, allowing it to continue fossil fuel developments in parallel.
India: Adani’s solar plans endanger livelihoods and wildlife in Rajasthan
Adani Watch | September 3, 2021
A recent protest against alleged encroachment on pasture by an Adani solar-power project in the western Indian state of Rajasthan was the latest in a series of conflicts spurred by an aggressive plan for huge arrays of solar panels in this arid zone.
India: Is the Solar Mission being held hostage by a group of Adani-led solar companies?
Nileena MS | The Caravan | January 31, 2019
Coupled with the weakening rupee, the new import duty has raised the cost of solar projects by around twenty percent, as per the CRISIL report. The duty was imposed at the behest of a group of five companies, led by Mundra Solar, the solar-power firm owned by the Adani Group.
India: Adani solar plant guzzles illegal fresh water in drought-hit Tamil Nadu
Rajasekaran RK | The New Indian Express | June 6, 2017
The world’s largest solar power plant, installed by the Adani Group in 2,500 acres in Kamuthi taluk of Tamil Nadu, is not as green or sustainable as it seems. Local residents claim the 648 MW renewable energy plant is a water guzzler.
& Relations
Adani project sparks controversy in Sri Lanka yet again
Meera Srinivasan | The Hindu | June 12, 2022
An Adani project in Sri Lanka is yet again at the centre of controversy, after a top official of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) told a parliamentary panel that a renewable energy project in the island’s northern Mannar district was given to the Adani Group after Prime Minister Narendra Modi “pressured” President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
UK: Science Museum Signed ‘Gagging Clause’ with Adani Despite Outcry over Shell Contract
Meera Srinivasan | Culture Unstained | November 19, 2021
Documents released following a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA) also suggest that the new sponsorship deal was negotiated with the parent company the Adani Group – which is heavily involved in coal expansion in India and Australia – which also provided guidance to the museum’s Director on how to counter criticism of its mining projects.
India: The Ugly Side of Adani’s Solar Success Story
Geoff Law | Adani Watch | December 8, 2020
They warn that the country’s burgeoning renewable-energy industry could be brought into disrepute if environmental degradation and social dislocation are not addressed.
India: How solar farms fuel land conflicts
Mridula Chari | Live Mint | September 21, 2020
About two years ago, when Chanesar Khan first heard that a company will build a new solar park spread over 989 hectares of land, which he and others in western India’s Nedan village had been using to grow food and to graze their animals, he boarded a bus to meet a lawyer in Jaisalmer district—80km away.
Large-Scale Solar Can Give India a Sunburn
Nityanand Jayaraman | Carbon Copy | August 17, 2020
Where Lokesh is condemned to live in darkness because of ‘difficulties’ in reclassifying the ‘wetland’, his house sits on, the district collector of Ramanathapuram has reclassified hundreds of acres of wetland for Adani’s industrial use.
India: Land Grab In the Name of Solar Power
The Weekend Leader | July 13, 2015
The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation has signed an agreement with Adani Green Energy (TN) Limited for the purchase of the entire power to be produced in their five solar power generation centres.
Financials
- Adani Solar USA LLC
- Wardha Solar (Maharashtra) Pvt Ltd
- Adani Green Energy (Australia) Pte Ltd
- & MORE
BankTrack's profile of Adani Group (parent company).
Netherlands-based BankTrack tracks the involvement of commercial banks in financing business sectors and specific activities with a negative impact on people and planet.
& Evasion
India: Is Adani Green over-leveraged?
Ravi Nair | Adani Watch | January 7, 2021
Most of the entities that have the bulk of their investments in Adani group companies are based out of tax havens such as Mauritius and Hong Kong.
French energy group Total buys 20% stake in India's Adani Green Energy
Sudip Kar-Gupta | Reuters | January 18, 2021
French oil and energy group Total (TOTF.PA) has agreed to buy a 20% minority stake in India's Adani Green Energy Limited (AGEL) from Adani Group, as Total builds up its presence in the renewable energy sector.
Procurement
CorpWatch is still gathering procurement data on Adani Green Energy at this time.