A report released by short seller Hindenburg based in the United States in January was a “combination of targeted misinformation and discredited allegations” and a “deliberate and malicious attempt” at damaging the Adani Group’s reputation, Gautam Adani said on Tuesday. Speaking at the group’s annual general meeting (AGM), its chief Adani said the report aimed to generate profits from a short-term drive down of the stock prices.
“The majority of allegations dated from 2004 to 2015. They were all settled by appropriate authorities at that time,” he said. “While we promptly issued a comprehensive rebuttal, various vested interests tried to exploit the claims made by the short seller. These entities encouraged and promoted false narratives across various news and social media platforms.”
Gautam Adani also underlined that the Supreme Court-appointed committee had found no regulatory failure. “The committee’s report not only observed that the mitigating measures undertaken by the company helped rebuilt confidence but also cited that there were credible charges of targeted destabilisation of the Indian markets,” he said. He added that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is still to submit its report, but “we remain confident of our governance and disclosure standards”. “It is my commitment that we will continue to strive to keep improving this every single day,” he said.
The Adani Group chairman also said that during the crisis, the group raised billions of dollars from overseas as well as domestic investors. And no credit agencies cut any of the group’s ratings. “This is the strongest validation of the belief that investors have in the company’s governance and capital allocation exercises.” Reiterating the faith in India, Adani said, “While economic cycles are becoming increasingly hard to forecast, there is little doubt that India will become the world’s third largest economy well before 2030 and second largest by 2050.”
