The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which promised a half-billion-dollar loan to the Adani group last year to create a port in Sri Lanka, has yet to transfer funds to the Indian conglomerate.
The geopolitically delicate port project in Sri Lanka is as much a US effort to oppose Chinese influence in the island nation as it is to help the local economy thrive. GQG Partners also informed its investors last week that it has increased its stake in Adani group firms as fresh information became available, including the DFC’s promise to engage in the Sri Lankan port project with Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd in November 2023.
GQG Partners, based in the United States, is one of the Adani group’s main investors, with more than $8 billion invested in seven listed Adani enterprises. Last week, the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission indicted Adani group founder-chairman Gautam Adani, his nephew and Adani Green Energy Ltd executive director Sagar Adani, and Adani Green Energy managing director Vneet Jaain for allegedly paying approximately $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials in order to secure solar power supply contracts.
In 2023, the US DFC committed a $553 million loan to fund the development, building, and management of a deep-water container terminal at Sri Lanka’s Port of Colombo. The Colombo West International Terminal (CWIT), a joint venture of Adani Ports, Sri Lankan conglomerate John Keells Holdings Plc., and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, is planned to improve regional connectivity and trade.
The DFC deemed the project “highly developmental due to its significant benefits to Sri Lanka’s local economy.” The DFC did not say if it would continue with the project, cancel it, or find a new developer. The American lender to emerging economies, however, stated that Adani Ports has not been charged by American prosecutors.
“We are committed to ensuring that our projects and partners uphold the highest standards of integrity and compliance,” stated a DFC employee.
