Published Jun 17, 2026 | 6:09 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 17, 2026 | 6:09 PM
Gautam Adani. (Adani Group website)
Synopsis: Reporters’ Collective highlighted how non-BJP states seemingly favoured the Adani group while handing out coal contracts. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, came up with a fresh revelation on how Adani might have wriggled out of a 2024 criminal fraud case.
Since 2024, when the Centre resumed the signing of long-term coal purchase agreements, India’s ‘home champion’—the Adani group— has scooped up contracts set to earn a revenue of over Rs 13.27 lakh crore ($140.73 billion) in the coming 25 years, a Reporters’ Collective investigation has found.
The amount, it must be noted, is significantly higher than Gautam Adani’s current wealth.
Forbes has the 63-year-old’s real-time net worth at $86.9 billion at the time of writing, while Bloomberg values him at $116 billion. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had earlier highlighted how Adani’s net worth was around $8 billion when PM Modi came to power in 2014 and of him being “in the 609th spot on the rich list” then.
The coal contracts included a Letter of Agreement signed with the Power Company of Karnataka Ltd (PCKL) to supply 570 MW of power from the existing 1,370 MW capacity of the Raipur thermal power plant for a period of 25 years, cited by Adani Power in its Q2 FY26 press release. The Reporters’ Collective pegged the revenue from this deal at Rs 54,255 crore till 2050.
Karnataka, incidentally, was the only non-BJP-ruled state to make it to a list that examined twelve long-term coal contracts signed between March 2024 and January 2026.
Eight of these contracts were in BJP-ruled states, including three in Maharashtra and two in Assam. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were the other states in the saffron camp to award contracts to the Adani Group.
“The estimated revenue of Rs 13.27 lakh crore for the Adani Group from these contracts is based on the tariff announced for each power purchase contract and the period of the respective contracts,” the Reporters’ Collective stated.
Adani Power in their reply to Reporters’ Collective asserted that the “PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) have been secured following competitive bidding process and the tariffs have been approved by respective electricity regulators of various states after ensuring that the bidding process was transparent and the discovered tariff is competitive (sic).”
The company added, “Where Adani Power has participated, it has done so through open, transparent and competitive bidding processes and the political affiliation of any state government has no bearing on Adani Power’s participation in statutory procurement processes. It is also pertinent to highlight that we have not been absolute winners in all BJP-ruled states and have been successful in winning PPAs in non-BJP states as well.”
The Reporters’ Collective went on to highlight that contrary to the company’s assertions, “Adani’s dream run in the sector is at times partly powered by extraordinary concessions from state governments,” listing out such instances in Assam and Bihar.
The Wall Street Journal revelation
The revelations came on a day when The Wall Street Journal published a report that the arrival of Boris Epshteyn, personal attorney to President Donald Trump, coincided with senior Justice Department officials in the US taking “the unusual step of asking a judge to dismiss the charges against Adani and other defendants” in a 2024 criminal fraud case.
Eight people, including Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, had initially been charged in the case with concealing from their US investors a plan to pay Indian officials $250 million in bribes.
“As of last summer, the family was telling people that Epshteyn was helping them, some of the people said,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
“Epshteyn, who also serves as the president’s adviser and legal coordinator, didn’t attend meetings with prosecutors. Nor did his name appear on legal papers. That work was handled by lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell, a white-shoe firm that also represents Trump and was hired by Adani last summer. But Epshteyn’s presence was discussed inside the Justice Department and among others familiar with the case, people with knowledge of the matter said,” the paper went on to add.
There were reports earlier that the dropping of these charges was linked to Adani pledging a $10 billion investment in the US that would generate 15000 jobs.
(Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
