“The (Hindenburg Research) report was a combination of targeted misinformation and discredited allegations, the majority of them dating from 2004 to 2015. They were all settled by the appropriate authorities at that time.
“This report was a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation and generating profits through a short-term drive-down of our stock prices,” Adani said while addressing the shareholders at the Group’s annual general meeting.
The Adani Group saw a massive fall in market cap and share prices of its listed companies following Hindenburg’s allegations. It also resulted in the Group calling off AEL’s fully subscribed Rs 20,000 crore FPO.
“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,” Adani noted.
In March, the Supreme Court had set up a six-member expert committee to investigate whether there was a regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of laws pertaining to the securities market by the Adani Group or other companies after Hindenburg Research came out.
Separately, the apex court also asked SEBI to investigate if there was a violation of the minimum public shareholding norms in public limited companies, failure to disclose transactions with related parties and any manipulation of stock prices.
Adani said the report of the expert committee, which was made public in May, did not find any regulatory failure. It also confirmed the quality of the Group’s disclosures and found no instance of any breach, he said.
“While SEBI is still to submit its report, we remain confident of our governance and disclosure standards. It is my commitment that we will continue to strive to keep improving these, every single day,” Adani said.
Speaking about the Indian economy, he said while economic cycles are getting increasingly hard to forecast, there is little doubt that India – already the world’s fifth largest economy – will become the world’s third largest economy well before 2030 and, thereafter, the world’s second largest economy by 2050.
“Our nation’s demographic dividend is expected to drive consumption and accelerate the growth of a tax paying society at record pace,” he said.
In his speech, Adani also spoke about the Group’s ongoing expansion plans. He said the Navi Mumbai Airport is preparing for operational readiness and airport transition by December 2024. He reaffirmed the Group’s target of 45 GW (giga watts) of renewable energy capacity by 2030. The Group is also building the largest hybrid renewable park in the world in Khavda, Gujarat.
