In the wake of U.S. bribery allegations against top executives of India’s Adani Group, the country faces a reckoning with an economic model that has allowed a small group of entrepreneurs to grow fabulously rich.

Adani, 62, one of Asia’s richest men, was thrust into the spotlight last week when U.S. prosecutors in New York charged him and seven of his associates with securities fraud.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party said it had no reason to defend billionaire Gautam Adani on Tuesday following his U.S. indictment over alleged bribery to secure power deals in India. The main opposition Congress party has accused Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of shielding Adani and stonewalling independent investigations into his dealings in the country,