Billionaire Gautam Adani is reportedly exploring the possibility of investing up to $10 billion in Vietnam, marking a strategic shift toward Asia as his conglomerate looks to rebound from legal and reputational setbacks in the US.
In a recent meeting with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, Adani expressed a keen interest in sectors including infrastructure, energy, renewables, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, according to an official statement cited by Bloomberg.
This meeting comes on the heels of Adani’s visit to China — his first international trip since US authorities filed criminal and civil cases against him and his group in November. The visit underscores Adani’s intent to re-engage globally and restore momentum following mounting controversies over legal issues and corporate governance.
The US bribery investigation has already impacted Adani’s global ventures, resulting in the loss of $2.6 billion worth of deals in Kenya and prompting foreign partners to pause new investments.
France’s TotalEnergies SE, a joint venture partner in Adani Total Gas Ltd., announced it would suspend any further financial involvement with the group “until the consequences of US indictments against Adani and his aides have been clarified,” Bloomberg noted.
Adani and his associates have been actively working to build political influence in the United States, aiming to bring the probe to a close.
The Adani Group already has a footprint in Vietnam through its ports business. According to a July 2024 post on the Vietnamese government’s website, the conglomerate had been weighing an investment exceeding $2 billion in a port project in the coastal city of Danang. The proposed Lien Chieu port is one among several infrastructure ventures under consideration.
Karan Adani, managing director of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. and Gautam Adani’s elder son, confirmed the development in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier in July, stating the company had received “in-principle approval from the Vietnamese government” for the Danang port project.
