Stocks of PSU banks with Rs 39,380 crore exposure to Adani group nosedive

Adani Group stocks fell sharply Thursday (November 21) morning, after billionaire Gautam Adani was accused by US authorities of his participation in an alleged years-long plot to pay a $250 million bribe to Indian officials in exchange for advantageous terms on solar power contracts.

The combined market capitalisation of all the Adani Group's listed companies dropped by 2.45 lakh crore today amid bribery news. Some of the group firms also hit their lowest trading permissible limit for the day.

ALSO READ: Gautam Adani, other defendants allegedly paid $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials; Adani group denies, says allegations baseless

Meanwhile, PSU banks' stocks have also fallen with the Nifty PSU Bank index slipping five per cent on Thursday morning. The rationale behind this is that banks and NBFCs have exposure of about 36 per cent of the total debt of Adani Group. They together have an exposure of more than Rs 88,000 crore. The three big banks of the country (SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda) have given loans of more than Rs 40,000 crore to Adani. Apart from this, the Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Union Bank also have exposure. At the same time, there is some exposure to private banks like Axis Bank, ICICI, and HDFC Bank.

PSU banks with Rs 39,380 crore exposure to Adani group 

SBI: Rs 27,000 crore
Bank of Baroda (BoB): Rs 5,380 crore
Punjab National Bank (PNB): Rs 7,000 crore

PSU Bank stocks

SBI shares have fallen more than five per cent today, BoB stock dropped by eight per cent while PNB shares plunged around five per cent today. Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank shares have also tanked due to the Adani news today.

A look at the Adani bribery case

US prosecutors charged Adani, 62, his nephew Sagar, and other defendants with paying over $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials between 2020 and 2024 to acquire solar energy contracts with profit potential of more than $2 billion.

This, they said, was concealed from US banks and investors from whom the Adani group had secured billions of dollars for the project.

However, an Adani spokesperson denied the charges, describing the allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against Adani Green directors as "baseless".

US law allows pursuing foreign corruption allegations if they involve certain links to American investors or markets.