Adani Group on Thursday said it has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese conglomerate Kowa Group for sale of green hydrogen in Japan, Taiwan and Hawaii markets. Billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate is investing up to $50 billion over the next 10 years in setting up a fully integrated green hydrogen ecosystem in India. This includes the production of 1 million tonne of green hydrogen in the initial phase which will be ramped up to 3 million tonne later.
Bangladesh has no concerns about Adani Group's ability to supply power from a plant in Jharkhand, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, adviser to the country's prime minister on energy. Speaking on sidelines of the India Energy Week in Bengaluru, Chowdhury, who holds ministerial rank, said talks with Adani on the supply are private and can't be made public. "Electricity will come very timely. Summer peak is coming and that 600 MW of Adani Power is very helpful," he said.
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Without naming Adani group specifically, the capital markets watchdog said in a statement that unusual price movement in the stocks of a business conglomerate has been observed in the past week.
From the Sensex constituents, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the biggest gainers. In contrast, Power Grid, Trent, NTPC, Maruti, HCL Tech and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.
Embattled billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since his ports-to-energy conglomerate publicly battled a short seller's accusation of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, saying the abrupt move to withdraw a fully-subscribed share sale at his flagship firm was due to market volatility. His group continued to lose on the stock market, with the cumulative rout now nearing $108 billion in a week -- one of the biggest wipeouts in India's history. "After a fully subscribed follow-on public offering (of Adani Enterprises Ltd), yesterday's decision of its withdrawal would have surprised many.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned till 2 pm after opposition members held protest in Parliament seeking a discussion on the issue.
Amid a political furore over a meltdown in the Adani group shares, stock market data shows it is not only the plunge now but the sharp surge of the past also drew regulatory attention and enhanced surveillance. Adani group stocks have taken a huge beating on the bourses, losing billions of dollars in market value, after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Power Grid, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Adani Ports were among the biggest gainers. Sun Pharma was the only laggard, declining nearly 2 per cent.
From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Eternal were the lead gainers. Power Grid, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Nestle, HDFC Bank and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.
The Congress-led opposition stepped up its attack on Friday against the government over the Adani row and demanded that there should be a thorough investigation into what they alleged was a 'mega scam' as it involved public money.
Dharavi resident advocate Sandip Katake alleged the project would be the world's biggest land scam.
In his Marathi autobiography Lok Maze Saangati published in 2015, Pawar has lavished praise on Adani describing him as 'hard-working, simple, down to earth' and with ambition to make big in the infrastructure sector.
Lionel Messi's much-anticipated visit to India has received its final seal of approval with the Argentine superstar set to kick off his three-city tour in Kolkata on December 12.
At a time 20-odd opposition parties, many of them regional rivals, joined forces over the Adani issue, Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar's open support for industrialist Gautam Adani has put a question mark on the durability of a non-Bharatiya Janata Party block in the run-up to the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Eternal was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, jumping 4.50 per cent, followed by Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were also among the winners. In contrast, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards.
Richest Asian Gautam Adani's group on Tuesday said it will pay an additional Rs 48.65 a share to NDTV stockholders who tendered their shares in its open offer to help match what it had paid to buy out a stake of the news broadcaster's founders. Adani Enterprises in a stock exchange filing said it will pay an additional Rs 48.65 per NDTV share to investors, who had sold their shares in an open offer between November 22 and December 5, taking the payout to Rs 342.65 a share and matching what it paid to buy Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy's stake. Adani Group first acquired Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited, a little-known company that had given Rs 403 crore of an interest-free loan to RRPR Holdings - a company founded by the Roys and bore their initials in its name - in 2009-10 in exchange for warrants that allowed it to buy a stake in the newsgroup at any time.
Shares of Adani Group firms continued to remain weak for the seventh day running on Friday amid a host of negative events surrounding the companies. The stock of Adani Enterprises tumbled 20 per cent to Rs 1,173.55 -- its one-year low -- on the BSE. Shares of Adani Ports tanked 10 per cent, Adani Transmission (10 per cent), Adani Green Energy (10 per cent), Adani Power (5 per cent), Adani Total Gas (5 per cent), Adani Wilmar (4.99 per cent), NDTV (4.98 per cent), ACC (4.24 per cent) and Ambuja Cements (3 per cent).
Several opposition MPs on Wednesday greeted their Bharatiya Janata Party counterparts in Parliament premises with the tricolour in one hand and a red rose in the other, as they urged the ruling party to ensure that the House functions and all issues, including the Adani matter, is discussed.
It was in Kolar in 2019, during Lok Sabha election campaigning, that he made a remark on the Modi surname for which he was convicted of criminal defamation and stripped of his Parliament membership last month.
Ambuja Cements' announcement that it would acquire Hyderabad-based Penna Cement Industries could be the Adani Group company's first step for wider inorganic expansion, according to analysts.
Embattled Adani group has appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton for an independent audit of some of its companies in a bid to come clean of the damning allegations levelled by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research and to assure investors and regulators. Sources said the audit is primarily to show to regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the group has nothing to hide and it is in compliance with relevant laws. The audit will specifically look into if there was any misappropriation or repatriation of funds and if loans were used for any purpose other than the one they were intended for.
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.
Those who worry that the Adani saga will turn the world off India are not looking at the entire picture, asserts Mihir S Sharma.
Weeks after it revised the rating outlook of two companies of embattled Adani group, S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday said it is watching for additional information on the conglomerate's governance and funding for any ratings action. Investors, it said, seek clarity on the credit impact of a string of allegations against the group in a short-seller report published in late January, and on the findings of a recently launched Supreme Court investigation. S&P Global published an FAQ-style commentary titled, "Adani Group: The Known Unknowns".
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday came down heavily on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, and described him as a "repeat offender" in levelling such charges.
After investing a staggering amount in May, foreign investors turned net sellers with a withdrawal of Rs 8,749 crore from the Indian equity markets in the first week of this month triggered by renewed US-China trade tensions and rising US bond yields. This momentum follows a net investment of Rs 19,860 crore in May and Rs 4,223 crore in April, data with the depositories showed.
Tatas, Ambanis, Adanis, Birlas contributed an average of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore per family group.
The Adani group stocks continued to remain under pressure on Friday, falling up to 20 per cent in morning trade, after the US-based investment research firm Hindenburg Research made damaging allegations. Shares of Adani Total Gas plummeted 19.65 per cent, Adani Transmission tumbled 19 per cent, Adani Green Energy plunged 15.50 per cent and Adani Enterprises tanked 6.19 per cent on the BSE. Also, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone fell 5.31 per cent, Adani Wilmar dipped 5 per cent and Adani Power declined 4.99 per cent.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will prepay $195 million of debt due in 2024 as the conglomerate helmed by Gautam Adani looks to boost investors' confidence post being targeted by a US short-seller. In a stock exchange filing, APSEZ said it will buy back $195 million of bonds due in 2024 using its cash reserves. Out of the $520 million principal outstanding, $325 million will be left after the buyback, it said.
On Thursday, Adani Enterprises announced that it will not go ahead with acquiring Macquarie group's two road companies at an enterprise valuation of Rs 3,100 crore.
Sensex sinks 573 pts on global tensions and high crude prices
Industrialist Gautam Adani slipped out of the World' Real-time Billionaires list of Forbes on Friday and was placed in 22nd position. Gautam Adani's wealth had declined 21.77 per cent or $16.2 billion. The current net worth of the industrialist was $581.1 billion at 1.23 pm (IST) on Friday afternoon, while Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani's net worth was at $82 billion.
After a $110 billion rout in market value, embattled Adani group got some reprieve on Tuesday after shares of most of its listed firms rebounded on bourses and international rating agencies said there was no credit risk for lenders with exposure to the group. The group, which is in the midst of a political storm after US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research's adverse report dated January 24 triggered a meltdown in group stocks wiping out billions of dollars in market value, also had a mixed day with the quarterly results of four of its entities, particularly Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone reporting a 12.94 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,336.51 crore for the December quarter 2022. Shares of flagship firm Adani Enterprises settled nearly 15 per cent higher at Rs 1,802.50 apiece while shares of Adani Wilmar jumped 5 per cent to end at Rs 399.40 on BSE.
Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, HCL Tech and Adani Ports were the laggards. Power Grid, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.
From the Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, Asian Paints, NTPC, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Adani Ports, Infosys and State Bank of India were among the major gainers. However, Titan tumbled over 6 per cent. Trent, Axis Bank, Maruti and Hindustan Unilever were also among the laggards.
Market regulator Sebi on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking 15 more days to conclude the ongoing probe into the allegations of stock price manipulation by the Adani group. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), in its fresh application, said that it has examined and investigated 24 matters pertaining to the case. "Out of the said 24 investigations/examinations, 17 are final and complete and approved by the Competent Authority in accordance with Sebi's extant practice and procedures," the regulator said.
When shorts are based on perceived corporate mismanagement or malfeasance, as in cases like Enron and Satyam, they enable the financial system to work efficiently, points out Devangshu Datta.
Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said he is not completely opposed to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the charges against the Adani group, but a Supreme Court committee will be more useful and effective.
Gandhi has been attacking the prime minister on the Adani issue and has been demanding an investigation into the matter.
