Kenya cancels $730 million proposed deals with Adani Group after US indictment

Kenyan President William Ruto has ordered the cancellation of several proposed deals with the Adani Group after the US indicted industrialist Gautam Adani in a bribery case.

In Short

• Kenya cancels airport deal with Adani group after US indictment
• 30-year power project deal with Adani also scrapped
• Gautam Adani indicted for allegedly paying bribes to officials for solar contracts

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Thursday he had ordered the cancellation of a procurement process expected to hand control of the country's main airport to Adani Group following the indictment of the company's founder Gautam Adani in the United States.

Ruto said he had also directed the cancellation of a 30-year, $736-million public-private partnership deal the energy ministry had signed with a unit of the Adani Group last month to construct power transmission lines.

""I have directed agencies within the ministry of transport and within the ministry of energy and petroleum to immediately cancel the ongoing procurement," Ruto said in his state of the nation address, attributing the decision to "new information provided by investigative agencies and partner nations".

US authorities said on Wednesday that Gautam Adani, one of the world's richest people, and seven other defendants agreed to pay about $265 million (Rs 2,029 crore) in bribes to Indian government officials.

Adani Group denied the allegations and said in a statement that it would seek "all possible legal recourse".

Earlier on Thursday, Energy Minister Opiyo Wandayi had said there was no bribery or corruption involved in the award of the transmission lines contract.