Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd head Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian and has now broken into the world's top 10 wealthiest persons in the latest Forbes 2024 Billionaire List. Ambani, 66, is ranked 9th on the list with a wealth of $116 billion, up from $83.4 billion in the 2023 ranking, according to Forbes. Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian and is ranked at No.17 on the global list.
The expelled Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar in West Bengal, in her plea filed in October last year, sought permanent injunction against Dubey, Dehadrai, social media platforms X, search engine Google, YouTube and 15 media houses from making, publishing, circulating per se defamatory, ex facie false and malicious statements against her. She has also sought damages.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel asked why the prime minister and Centre were scared of ordering a probe into the fraud committed by the Adani Group.
Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has seen substantial gains from its investments in Adani group shares, which have experienced a significant recovery over the past year. The value of LIC's stake in Adani group companies surged by 51.6 per cent, or Rs 22,591 crore, reaching Rs 66,388 crore as of Friday's close. This compares to Rs 43,797 crore on May 31 last year, according to stock exchange data.
In 1937, a hydrogen-powered German airship flying into New Jersey caught fire and crashed, killing 35 passengers on board. It was sort of a man-made disaster as some 100 people were loaded on to a balloon filled with the most flammable material in the universe. The airship was named Hindenburg. Eight decades later, in 2017, a graduate of international business management from the University of Connecticut founded a "forensic financial research" firm to specialise in spotting wrongdoings and frauds, or what it calls man-made disasters, at companies around the globe and take market bets against them.
Khera said when a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) could be set up by former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 'what is the problem of Narendra Gautamdas, sorry....Narendra Damodardas Modi'.
Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani to become the richest Indian in the world with a net worth of $84.3 billion, according to Forbes Real-time billionaire list for 2023. Ambani overtook Adani after the Reliance Industries chairman's assets went up 0.19 per cent with an increase of wealth by $64 million while Gautam Adani's assets went down by 4.62 per cent with the industrialist's weath pegged at $84.1 billion according to the real time tracker of Forbes of 5 pm EST on Tuesday. Adani who figured among the top three billionaires in the world has dropped in the ranking to number 10 just below Mukesh Ambani.
Market regulator Sebi suppressed important facts from the Supreme Court and "slept over" Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's letter on alleged stock manipulation by the Adani firms, one of the PIL petitioners in the Adani-Hindenburg row has alleged in the top court in an affidavit. The apex court is seized of four PILs on the Adani-Hindenburg controversy including those by lawyers M L Sharma and Vishal Tiwari, Congress leader Jaya Thakur and law student Anamika Jaiswal. On August 25, SEBI had informed the apex court it has completed the probe in all but two allegations against the Adani group, and is still awaiting information from five tax havens on the actual owners behind the foreign entities that have invested in the conglomerate.
Billionaire Gautam Adani-led group's renewable energy firm on Thursday announced plans to raise Rs 12,300 crore through a share sale to investors as the group continues to build on a comeback strategy to emerge out of allegations of fraud levelled by a US short-seller. Adani Green Energy Ltd in a stock exchange filing said its board has approved raising up to Rs 12,300 crore through an issue of equity shares by way of qualified institutional placement (QIP). The funds are intended to be used for meeting capital needs of the company's expansion plans.
Shares of Adani group firms have faced heavy drubbing since Tuesday's close last week, after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made damaging allegations against the conglomerate. Most of the group firms fell for the third day running on Monday. Since Tuesday's close last week, shares of Adani Transmission have tumbled 41.66 per cent, Adani Total Gas tanked 39.57 per cent, Adani Green Energy declined 37.55 per cent and Adani Ports fell 23.75 per cent on the BSE.
Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, signed off an address to employees last week by assuring them that 2024 would be better than 2023 for both Reliance Industries and India. Ambani isn't an exception. Promoters and their representatives from several other conglomerates have expressed similar optimism.
In a significant win for the Adani group, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to transfer the probe into allegations of stock price manipulation by the Indian corporate giant to a special investigation team or the CBI, saying market regulator SEBI was conducting a "comprehensive investigation" and its conduct "inspires confidence".
Pawar posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, pictures of him and Adani cutting a ribbon of the factory.
Gautam Adani was the world's third and Asia's richest man a month back but a damning report by a US firm triggered a massive sell-off in shares of his apples-to-airport group, plunging his own wealth by $80 billion and the tycoon slipping to No.30 on the world billionaire index. Adani's sprawling conglomerate, which spans from sea ports to airports, edible oil and commodities, energy, cement and data centres, is under attack by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which successfully deflated electric-vehicle maker Nikola Motors in 2020. Hindenburg, which held short positions in unidentified shares of Adani Group firms through its US-traded debt and offshore derivatives, on January 24 accused the conglomerate of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" and using a number of offshore shell companies to inflate stock prices.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud declined the plea of advocate M L Sharma who mentioned the matter.
The government has not set up any committee to probe allegations a US short seller labelled against the Adani Group, but stock market regulator SEBI is investigating market allegations against the group, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. A separate investigation into imports of Indonesian coal by the conglomerate hasn't reached finality, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said. Lok Sabha saw several questions being put by MPs to the government on the Adani issue, which were replied through written responses by the minister.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) what the capital markets regulator intends to do for ensuring the protection of investors from extreme volatility in the stock market.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.
US-based boutique investment firm GQG Partners along with other investors on Wednesday bought an 8.1 per cent stake in Adani Power Ltd for over Rs 9,000 crore ($1.1 billion) as the marquee investor shrugged off damning report of a US short seller to invest in billionaire Gautam Adani's group.
'If there is any reason to change my holding in Adani group stocks, the Hindenburg report on the group is not the one.'
Confirming a meeting with the top management of the Adani Group, Life Insurance Corporation Chairman M R Kumar said on Sunday that the interaction had gone well. "There's nothing I can state as of now on the outcome of that meeting. "But yeah, we've had the meeting....we are quite happy about this meeting," Kumar said on the sidelines of the 22nd Global Conference of Actuaries in New Delhi.
The Adani story has only one angle -- how the stocks were rigged up to ridiculous heights, the Hindenburg report on gross overvaluation, followed by the vertical free fall of Adani stocks, points out Debashis Basu.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on February 17 a fresh plea of a Congress leader seeking investigation under the supervision of a sitting apex court judge against the Adani group of companies in light of the allegations made by the US-based Hindenburg Research.
An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court said it cannot conclude any regulatory failure around Adani Group's stock rallies, and that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has 'drawn a blank' in its probe into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into the conglomerate.
An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court said it cannot conclude any regulatory failure around Adani Group's stock rallies, and that Sebi has "drawn a blank" in its probe into alleged violations in money flows from offshore entities into the conglomerate. But the six-member panel said there was an evidence of a build-up in short positions on Adani Group stocks ahead of the report of US-based short seller Hindenburg Research, and profiting from squaring off positions after prices crashed post-publication of the damning allegations. "At this stage, taking into account the explanations provided by Sebi, supported by empirical data, prima facie, it would not be possible for the committee to conclude that there has been a regulatory failure around the allegation of price manipulation," the panel said in the report submitted to the Supreme Court.
Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company, one of the first high-profile investors in billionaire Gautam Adani's conglomerate, has decided to sell its stake in two Adani companies. In a disclosure, IHC said it has "entered into a definitive agreement with a buyer to dispose of its FDI investment in Adani Green Energy Ltd and Adani Transmission Ltd". It, however, did not name the buyer.
'Besides Ayodhya, the BJP lost in nine other constituencies with a Ramayana imprint; it tasted success only in Thrissur.' 'In Rameswaram, K Navaskani of the Indian Union Muslim League won with a 44% voteshare in a 84% Hindu constituency.' 'In the 21 seats in the Ayodhya and Varanasi regions, both crucial to the Hindutva project, the BJP won just 7.' 'It won just 3 out of 12 seats around Modi's constituency,' points out Krishna Prasad.
Moody's Investors Service on Friday warned that the rout in Adani Group shares could hurt the conglomerate's ability to raise capital, while its peer Fitch saw no immediate impact on its ratings. Adani Group's listed companies have lost over USD 100 billion in value in just over a week after short-seller Hindenburg Research's scathing report flagged concerns about the ports-to-energy conglomerate's debt levels and alleged stock manipulation, accounting fraud and the use of tax havens.
Seven out of the 10 listed firms of Adani group have received show cause notices from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for alleged violation of related party transactions and non-compliance with listing regulations, the companies said in their regulatory filings to the stock exchanges. While group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd, renewable energy firm Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) and city gas distributor Adani Total Gas Ltd said Sebi sent notices of their parent or holding company controlled by conglomerate's chairman Gautam Adani, ports company Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, Adani Power, electricity transmission firm Adani Energy Solutions, and commodities firm Adani Wilmar said they have received Sebi notices.
In the context of market integrity, the IRAI and RBI should go over the minutes of the LIC and SBI board meetings when the decisions to invest in Adani equity or debt were taken, notes Jaimini Bhagwati, former World Bank treasury professional.
Shares of most of the Adani group firms ended lower on Monday, a day after it released a 413-page response to allegations of wrongdoing brought by a US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.
Embattled Adani Group on Monday said it has put on hold major equipment procurement and site construction activities for the Rs 34,900 crore petrochemical project at Mundra in Gujarat as the project has not yet tied up finances. The group's flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Mundra Petrochem Ltd in 2021 for setting up a greenfield coal-to-PVC plant at Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) land in the Kutch district of Gujarat. Asked by stock exchanges to comment on a PTI report on Sunday that the group has suspended work on the project, AEL said, "The financial closure of the Green PVC project of Mundra Petrochemicals Limited ( MPL) is pending with the financial institutions and it is in their active consideration."
In an interview to NDTV, Pawar came out in support of the Adani Group and criticised the narrative around Hindenburg Research's report on the conglomerate.
'I want us not to underestimate Indian voters. They can tell good work from bad.'
So far the government has been silent on the charges being levelled, even after the stock price rout. Perhaps it is hoping for the share price to settle so that the matter goes away, predicts Aakar Patel.
Madhabi Puri Buch, the first female chairperson of Sebi, doesn't plan to rest on her laurels in her third and final year in office and has set out an ambitious goal, such as moving towards a same-day and instantaneous settlement cycle for the secondary market.
In our mystery the watchdog agencies are silent, but it is the market that has barked and has not stopped barking. Till such time as it continues to do so, this headache will not go away, notes Aakar Patel.
An expert committee, set up by the Supreme Court to probe allegations against the Adani group following a bombshell report from a US short seller, has members with potential conflict of interest, a fresh petition filed in the apex court on Monday said.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce on Thursday its order on a batch of PILs on the recent Adani group shares crash triggered by the Hindenburg Research's fraud allegations.
The Himachal Pradesh government's Excise and Taxation Department inspected an Adani Group company, scrutinising records and checking the stock at the Adani Wilmar warehouse in Parwanoo, officials said on Thursday. The officials were apparently investigating possible GST violations by the company, a 50:50 joint venture between the Adani conglomerate and Singapore-based Wilmar. The inspection on Wednesday evening in the Congress-run state comes at a time when the group finds itself in the middle of a political row at the Centre, triggered by a scathing report by US-based Hindenburg Research.