After leadership shake-up, Azure Power strikes $23M deal in US bribery probe
Adani Group-linked US company Azure Power, engaged in solar energy, has paid USD 23 million to settle a case in a US district court over bribery and other irregularities, the company said on Tuesday. Azure, whose shares were listed for US trading on the NY Stock Exchange, said the resolution will enable it to move forward. An indictment by a New York district court charged the company and its former executives, Ranjit Gupta, Murali Subramanian, and Pawan Kumar Agrawal, with misrepresenting data about the company and allegedly paying bribes to win new projects.
They were charged with making “false and misleading” statements on compliance with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws and causing damage to investors who had acquired Azure equity shares at “artificially inflated prices due to the misrepresentation and omission” of facts. “On April 11, 2025, the company and the court-appointed lead plaintiff, acting on behalf of all members of the settlement class, agreed, subject to court approval, to a full and final settlement of the lawsuit without any admission of liability by any defendant. The settlement received preliminary approval from the court on April 30, 2025, and has now been granted final approval,” Azure said in a statement.
Pursuant to the settlement terms, the company has already transferred the settlement amount of USD 23 million into a designated escrow account established for this purpose. After Azure Founder Inderpreet Wadhwa stepped down on May 3, 2019, Ranjit Gupta became the firm’s CEO. Murali Subramanian was appointed COO, and Pawan Kumar Agrawal was appointed CFO. Under Defendants Gupta, Subramanian, and Agrawal, the company’s financial performance began a steady decline. Net losses steadily increased from a profit of Rs 13.8 crore in FY19 to losses of Rs 23 lakh in FY20, and Rs 42 lakh in FY21, according to the complaint before the US court.
Short on cash, Defendants incurred additional debt to fund operations and finance new projects. The company’s total debt balance increased 79 per cent over the course of only three years under the management of Gupta and Subramanian. “To make Azure’s financial position appear more favourable, Defendants began manipulating Azure’s (operational) Megawatts and other data and paying kickbacks to win new projects. As a result, concerned employees complained,” it said.
As a result of the materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failures to disclose, Azure’s equity shares traded at an artificially inflated price. And when facts were finally disclosed, it negatively affected the value of the company’s equity shares. A class action suit was filed against the company and Defendants Gupta, Subramanian, and Agrawal. The settlement money will be distributed among all persons or entities who suffered losses on the purchase of Azure equity shares between January 1, 2020, and November 20, 2024.
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