Adani, which operates in Australia under the Bravus Resources name, owns the Carmichael coal mine in central Queensland which has been the subject of years of environmental activism.

It previously faced damaging allegations from an activist investor, Hindenburg, that Adani had engaged in widespread fraud to inflate company values, which Adani vehemently denied.

London’s Financial Times has now claimed that Adani imported $US5 billion worth of coal at highly inflated values. At times the prices were more than double the market value, the FT said.

It allegedly used offshore intermediaries in Singapore, Taiwan and Dubai. The Australian operations were not mentioned in the reports.

The FT cited 30 shipments of coal from Indonesia to India between 2019 and 2021.

In every case, it said prices were far higher than those in corresponding export declarations and during the shipments the value of the coal increased by more than $US70 million.

Adani has said the allegations were baseless and a misrepresentation of the facts.

Similar allegations have been raised before in an investigation by India’s Director of Revenue Intelligence and it was found that over-valuations occurred of between 50 and 100 per cent, the FT said.

However, the DRI has withdrawn an appeal in the case relating to the issue and Adani said the matter was conclusively settled.

Adani is also facing claims in its home state of Gujarat of overcharging for electricity. A letter from a state energy utility has allegedly claimed that Adani “procured coal at prices not reflecting the actual market of Indonesian coal”.

Separately, India’s market regulator was now reportedly investigating the relationship between the Adani Group and a fund incorporated in the British Virgin Islands to see if there had been a violation of share ownership rules.

Adani said the Financial Times was rehashing old and baseless allegations to tarnish the company’s name.

“Continuing their relentless campaign, the next attack is being fronted by Dan McCrum of the Financial Times, who jointly with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project put out a false narrative against the Adani Group on 31 August 2023. The OCCRP is funded by George Soros, who has openly declared his hostility against the Adani Group,” Adani claimed in a statement before the FT published the report.

“Having failed earlier, the FT is making another effort to financially destabilise the Adani Group by raking up an old, baseless allegation of over-invoicing of coal imports.

“It is unfortunate that some foreign entities like the OCCRP, supported by a section of the foreign media, short-sellers and domestic collaborators, have launched a series of attacks against the Adani Group with the primary intent of dragging down its market value.

“In fact, these individuals and groups, bound by the common objective of damaging the Adani Group, have developed a playbook which is being executed to perfection by a well-oiled and professional machinery working in sync both within India and abroad.

“The FT’s brazen agenda is exposed by the fact that they have singled out the Adani Group, while the DRI’s Circular, the raison d’être for the whole story, mentions as many as 40 importers including the Adani Group companies.

“This list not only includes some of India’s major private power generators like Reliance Infra, JSW Steels and Essar but also the state power generating companies of Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu.

Adani chairman Gautum Adani has close ties with India’s nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi.