Why Adani Group’s ACC is facing over ₹23 crore in tax penalties from I-T dept and what’s next

The Income Tax (I-T) department has imposed two separate penalties on ACC Ltd, aggregating to more than ₹23 crore, which it plans to contest before the appellate authorities.

In a regulatory filing, the Adani group company said it received an order for assessment year 2015–16, levying a penalty of ₹14.22 crore for "furnishing of inaccurate particulars of income.”

"For Financial Year 2014-15 relevant to Assessment Year 2015-16, the I-T department had disallowed certain expenses aggregating to Rs 49.25 crore and consequently alleged such adjustments as furnishing inaccurate particulars of income to the extent of such disallowances," the filing said.

The Income Tax department imposed another penalty of ₹8.85 crore for alleged under-reporting of income for assessment year 2018-19.

In the second demand, the I-T department for the assessment year 2018-19 had "disallowed claim for expenditure amounting to ₹12.79 crore and accordingly alleged under-reporting of income to that extent".

"Consequent to the said disallowance, the Income Tax Department has levied a penalty amounting to Rs 8.85 crore, i.e., 200 per cent of the tax effect of the aforesaid disallowances," it said.

The orders were received on October 1, 2025.

According to the disclosure, the penalty for FY15 followed disallowance of expenses worth ₹49.25 crore, while the FY19 penalty stemmed from disallowance of claims for expenditure amounting to ₹12.79 crore.

"The company will be contesting both orders by filing appeals before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) within the prescribed timelines and, in parallel, will seek a stay on the penalty demands raised under the respective orders," ACC said.

"At present, there is no impact on financial activity due to the said penalty demands," the company added.

ACC is a subsidiary of Ambuja Cement, the Adani Cement entity, which owns over 50% of the company.

In September 2022, Adani Group acquired Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC Ltd from Switzerland's Holcim Group in a $6.4 billion deal.

The tax demands relate to periods prior to the Adani takeover.

As per its FY25 annual report, ACC posted revenues of ₹21,762 crore and sold 39 million tonnes of cement during the year.

Shares of ACC were trading 0.67% higher at ₹1,840.35 apiece on the BSE in afternoon trade on Friday.