After two media outlets published new revelations regarding family-related shareholders of the company’s shares, the opposition demanded that action be taken.
In a frenetic atmosphere before the elections, the reports shed light on Indian institutions as well as the relationship between Gautam Adani, the founder of the conglomerate and Narendra Modi.
The value of 10 of the listed companies in the group dropped by $4.2bn or 3.3% on Thursday, after it was revealed that opaque offshore structures shielded the Adani family and some of its largest shareholders from public view.
Rahul Gandhi said that “this is an issue of India’s international reputation and should be investigated” at a Mumbai news conference. He added, “We’re trying to show that India is a fair playing field for our businesses and the world.” India will host the G-20 Summit on September 9-10.
Adani categorically denied what it called “recycled accusations” and attempted to link these reports to billionaire George Soros.
These reports were based upon documents obtained by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project – a global network investigative journalists, which is partly funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations. The reports also revealed that India’s stock exchange regulator had conducted an investigation into the Adani Group, but it was shut down after Modi took power in 2014.
India’s financial regulator informed the Supreme Court that no investigations had taken place before 2020 after Hindenburg – a US short-selling group – accused Adani in a January report of manipulating Adani’s share prices.
Hindenburg said: “The independent proof that our work is correct is overwhelming.” The Indian regulators are being watched closely to see if the obvious is going to be implemented.
Saket Gokhale of the Trinamool National Congress (an opposition party) said that he wrote to the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, “demanding a urgent investigation into these allegations against Adani”.
The Adani Group stated: “These reports appear to represent yet another concerted effort by Soros funded interests, supported by a segment of foreign media, to revive the meritless Hindenburg Report.”
BQ Prime, the financial news website owned by Adani, published an opinion piece in response to a request for comment from Adani last week. The article stated that “known India and Modi Government baiters on foreign shores were preparing another strike under the guise of investigative reporting”.
Soros was unpopular with Modi’s officials and supporters after the 93 year old financier and philanthropist stated that “Modi, and Adani the business tycoon are close allies. Their fate is intertwined”. He predicted that the controversy will weaken the government.
The hashtag #SorosAttacksIndia was trending on X (formerly Twitter) Thursday.
The Open Society Foundation stated that it was “proud” to be one of a number organisations supporting the OCCRP. This organization acts independently on the issues that it investigates. We are witnessing a false attempt in India to discredit OCCRP without engaging with their findings.
Adani has interests in infrastructure, media, power, and construction. At the close of Thursday’s market, Adani’s 10 listed companies had a market capitalisation worth $127bn.