Adani Group Chairperson Gautam Adani took on the Hidenburg allegations at Adani Enterprises’ Annual General Meeting on Tuesday. Addressing the AGM virtually, the billionaire said that the Hidenburg report was written to damage company’s reputation. He said that vested interests were behind shortseller report that had a lot of misinformation. Discrediting the report, Adani further added that no single credit rating agency cut the ratings of the Adani Group. The industrialist also said that he was confident of the standard of governance at the Group and added that the company will continue to improve these standards every day.
He further added that the report of the Supreme Court panel helped in building confidence in Adani Group. He said that the top court committee found no breach. Reassuring the stakeholders, Adani said that the finances of the company are getting much healthier than ever before. He called the acquisition pace of the company ‘unmatched’ in India. He also said that India is on right path to become $25-30 trillion economy by the year 2050. He also added that country’s share market capitalisation is on track to grow over $40 trillion by 2050.
Adani also spoke extensively about how the company withdrew the fully-subscribed FPO to protect its investors. Thanking all the stakeholders, he said that despite the turbulent times, the Group raised ‘billions’ from global investors. Apart from Hindenburg allegations, Adani also spoke about other ventures. Talking about NDTV, Adani said that the channel was working towards greater global reach and looking at its international programming.
Market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India has still not submitted its report. Earlier in May, SEBI had “drawn a blank” in its probe. The market watchdog has been investigating the alleged violations in overseas investments in Adani Group. Since the Hindenburg report came out in January earlier this year, shares of Adani Group firms are still down around $100 billion, a Reuters report said. The shortseller report had claimed Adani of using tax havens ‘improperly.’