Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group, who is known for sharing posts on non-traditional and motivational topics on his social media, has voiced his support for the Adani Group amidst the Hindenburg controversy.
In a message, he stated that the global media is speculating if the current business challenges will hinder India’s goal of becoming a global economic power, but he has lived through various crises such as earthquakes, droughts, recessions, and terror attacks, and he firmly believes that one should never bet against India.
Hindenburg Research, a US-based short seller, released a report on January 24th accusing Adani Group of improper use of offshore tax havens and raising concerns about the company’s high debt levels, which caused the Group’s stocks to drop significantly.
Hindenburg Research holds short positions in companies belonging to the Adani Group. In the report published on January 24th, Hindenburg accused the group of engaging in stock manipulation and accounting fraud over several decades. The research firm stated that the seven publicly listed companies of the Adani Group are overvalued, resulting in an 85% downside based on fundamental analysis.
After the release of Hindenburg Research’s report, the market capitalization of Adani Group companies decreased by approximately ₹1 lakh crore due to a major correction in the stock market. When trading resumed the following day, the companies continued to experience losses, resulting in a two-day market capitalization decrease of ₹4 lakh crore.
The decline in Adani Group’s stock prices resulted in a loss of over $110 billion from 10 related companies, including Adani Enterprises. However, Finance Secretary TV Somanathan downplayed the impact, referring to the fall in Adani Group’s shares as a “storm in a teacup” from a macroeconomic perspective.
Recently, Gautam Adani, who was once considered “India’s richest man,” was pushed out of the top 10 richest people in the world. He was overtaken by Mukesh Ambani, who entered the top-10 list.
On February 3rd, S&P Global Ratings downgraded its outlook on Adani Group’s credit ratings to negative due to increasing investor concerns about governance risks and funding challenges. This followed a similar warning by Moody’s Investors Service, which expressed concerns about Adani’s ability to secure capital or refinance maturing debt in the coming years. However, Fitch Ratings stated that it does not expect any significant changes to Adani Group’s cash flow forecast and noted that there are no major offshore bond maturities in the near term.
Opposition political parties in India have raised questions about the Adani Group in Parliament and have demanded either a Joint Parliamentary Committee investigation or a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter. TMC MP Mahua Moitra has also repeatedly questioned the company.
BJP Rajya Sabha member Mahesh Jethmalani asked what the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has to do with the Hindenburg-Adani controversy and stated that LIC, the Life Insurance Corporation, made investment decisions independently. Adani’s former lawyer and ex-solicitor general of India, Harish Salve, has commented that people are not pleased with the way Indian businessmen are making their presence felt on a global scale.
Read More-Business Tycoon Anand Mahindra’s lessons from life
