The Adani Group has found itself at the center of yet another controversy, only months after the Kenyan government cancelled two high-profile investment agreements with the Indian conglomerate.
This time, the group is under international scrutiny following allegations of being indirectly linked to the shipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Iran—a country under stringent international sanctions.
The new claims surfaced on Monday, June 2, when a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) alleged that certain tanker vessels exhibiting suspicious behaviors had made repeated trips between the Persian Gulf and the Adani-operated Mundra Port, located in western India.
These tanker movements, according to the WSJ, are characteristic of operations commonly associated with circumventing sanctions.
The report triggered fresh concerns and is said to have prompted the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to begin reviewing the activities of several LPG tankers that may have delivered cargo to Adani’s flagship port facility.
The implication of such involvement—whether direct or indirect—has the potential to severely tarnish the already fragile reputation of the Adani Group and its billionaire chairman, Gautam Adani.
In a swift and strongly worded rebuttal, the Adani Group dismissed the WSJ report as “baseless” and “mischievous,” issuing an official statement through a stock exchange filing. The company categorically denied any intentional involvement in violating sanctions or trading in Iranian-origin LPG.
“The WSJ story is entirely unfounded and deliberately misleading,” the company stated. “We unequivocally deny any participation in sanction-evading activities or transactions involving LPG sourced from Iran.”
To bolster its defense, the Adani Group emphasized that it adheres to strict internal compliance policies. The company insisted that it does not knowingly handle any cargo originating from Iran and conducts thorough due diligence on all suppliers to ensure compliance with international regulations.
“All LPG suppliers undergo rigorous Know Your Customer (KYC) verification and screening to confirm they are not listed under US sanctions,” the statement added. “Furthermore, the vessels mentioned in the report are not owned, operated, or tracked by us.
We cannot comment on ships with which we have no contractual relationship or operational control.”
The timing of these allegations is particularly critical for the Adani Group. The company is still navigating the fallout from legal troubles in the United States that surfaced in late 2024.
In November of that year, Gautam Adani and his nephew, Sagar Adani, were both indicted by US authorities in a corruption scandal involving bribery and alleged misrepresentation of financial information to investors.
That scandal had ripple effects far beyond India, especially in Kenya, where the government—led by President William Ruto—moved quickly to sever ties with the conglomerate. Two controversial agreements were subsequently scrapped.
The first was a KSh 240 billion (approximately USD 1.85 billion) deal to upgrade and manage Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) under a long-term 30-year concession. The second was a KSh 96 billion (about USD 736 million) energy infrastructure contract for the construction of high-voltage power lines, signed with Kenya’s Ministry of Energy.
Adding fuel to the fire, prominent Kenyan whistleblower Nelson Amenya—who had earlier exposed the controversial Adani deals—recently resurfaced with new concerns.
Amenya claimed that the government may now be planning to hand over operational control and commercial rights of a major Kenyan airport to a company based in the Middle East, specifically from Dubai.
Although the details of this alleged new agreement remain unclear, Amenya’s claims have stirred renewed public debate over the transparency of government contracts involving foreign firms, particularly those with controversial histories.
As the Adani Group continues to deny wrongdoing and distances itself from the LPG shipment allegations, the controversy underscores the challenges the company faces in restoring its image and maintaining trust on the global stage.
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