Adani Downplays Regulatory Notices: CFO Calls Some ‘Trivial’

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The finance chief of the Adani Group, Jugeshinder Singh, addressed the Indian market regulator’s notices received by group firms, dismissing some of them as “trivial” in nature. The Adani Group, led by billionaire Gautam Adani, has faced regulatory scrutiny in India following a report by Hindenburg Research in January 2023. The report accused the group of improper use of tax havens and stock manipulation, leading to a significant $150 billion drop in market value for Adani’s firms. The Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing.

Recently, Adani Enterprises and other group companies disclosed that they had received notices from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding alleged regulatory violations, including non-compliance with certain provisions for listed companies. Singh mentioned that some of these notices were procedural and insignificant. He cited an example where he received a query about his share trading history, despite not having a trading account, which he found trivial.

While SEBI and GQG did not provide immediate comments, Adani Enterprises stated that the notices had no material impact on their financial statements and no significant non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations was found. The notices were reportedly related to disclosure rules and related party transactions, though details were not disclosed.

Singh also announced that the Adani Group plans to increase its spending by 85% in fiscal year 2025, amounting to 1.3 trillion rupees ($15.6 billion), to leverage the expected boom in infrastructure development in India. Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy division, will allocate 340 billion rupees to add 6 gigawatts of capacity. Additionally, the group aims to nearly double its cement production capacity to 140 million tons by 2028 from the current 79 million tons.

On Monday, the Adani Group’s owner expressed confidence to investors that the group is well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities in India’s rapidly growing infrastructure sector.