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.
Asia's richest man Gautam Adani, besides looking at opportunities to expand his vast empire, is hooked on ChatGPT - the programme that trawls vast amount of information to generate natural-sounding text on virtually anything - from crafting jokes to writing ad copy, debugging computer code, to even generating poems and essays. Adani, whose conglomerate has in recent years diversified from mines, ports and power plants into airports, data centres and defence, penned musing from his visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting. "From a meetings perspective, this was perhaps my busiest WEF as I met over a dozen heads of states and several business leaders," he wrote on LinkedIn, talking of new geopolitical couplings, climate change and tight-lipped evangelists and AI.
Days after completing a $6.5 billion acquisition of Ambuja Cements and ACC, billionaire Gautam Adani said his group has planned to double cement manufacturing capacity and become the most profitable manufacturer in the country. He saw a multifold rise in cement demand in India on the back of record-breaking economic growth and the government's infrastructure creation push, which will give significant margin expansion. In a speech made at an event to mark the completion of the acquisition on September 17, the Adani Group founder and chairman said the ports-to-energy conglomerate has in a single stroke become the second largest cement manufacturer in the country.
They will not be followed by analysts and no fund manager can buy such small companies with low trading liquidity.
Large companies, those that are talked about in the media and tracked on social media, have already been discovered. They won't lead to extraordinary gains, Debashish Basu points out.
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.
'We would like to develop Andhra Pradesh into a logistics hub not only for India, but also for South Asia.'
Adani Wilmar (AWL) joined the elite group of companies with market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 1 trillion after the stock of Gautam Adani-led edible oil company hit a new high of Rs 802.80, up 5 per cent on the BSE in Tuesday's trade.
Could it have been more reformist? Of course, but this is an election year Budget, observes Akash Prakash.
Shares of Adani group companies witnessed a massive drubbing in morning trade on Monday, tumbling up to 25 per cent, amid reports that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) has frozen certain FPIs accounts that have holding in some of these firms.
'The competition between the two is definitely going to be of great interest to the Indian market.'
As India builds its data centre capabilities, it is imperative that it is supported by green energy. This is because data centres are guzzlers of energy.
During the debate on the 'Motion of Thanks on the President's Address', Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman strongly objected to 'insinuations' against the prime minister, who was also present in the House.
Shares of the six listed Adani group stocks tumbled for the fourth day on Thursday, resulting in Rs 1.59 trillion market cap loss this week. Adani Power, Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission hit their 5 per cent lower trading limit for a fourth straight day.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday raised the personal income tax rebate limit, doled out sops on small savings and announced one of the biggest hikes in capital spending in the past decade as she did a tight rope walk in the Budget between staying fiscally prudent and meeting public expectations in the year before general elections.
'That is the one headline the world is reading about India this week, and it is a potentially damaging story...' 'I don't think a panic mentality has set in, but this story is one that investors and market watchers are absolutely seized with.'
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Adani Green Energy are the other two Adani Group firms to have crossed the Rs 1-trillion mark in m-cap.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd climbed two spots to No. 53 on Forbes' latest Global 2000 list of public companies worldwide. Forbes Global 2000 ranks the largest companies in the world using four metrics: sales, profits, assets and market value, Forbes said releasing the 2022 ranking of the world's top 2,000 companies. Reliance is the top-ranked Indian firm on the list, followed by State Bank of India at No. 105, HDFC Bank at No. 153 and ICICI Bank at No. 204.
Reliance Industries on Friday reported a 41.5 per cent jump in its third quarter net profit as oil, retail and telecom businesses fired on all cylinders. Net profit of Rs 18,549 crore in October-December compared with Rs 13,101 crore a year back, the company said in a stock exchange filing. Income from operations rose to Rs 1.91 lakh crore from Rs 1.28 lakh crore.
The two leaders discussed the Ukraine crisis and several regional and global issues including increasing trade relations and cooperation in the field of mitigating the impact of climate change during their bilateral talks at the Danish Prime Minister's official residence in Mareinborg near Copenhagen.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's Group on Wednesday announced the acquisition of SoftBank Group Corp's renewable power business in India for a deal value of $3.5 billion (approximately Rs 25,500 crore), to become the world's largest solar company. In a statement, Adani Green Energy Ltd, the renewable energy unit of the port-to-energy conglomerate, said it has inked share purchase agreements to buy 100 per cent of SB Energy India from SoftBank and Bharti Group. Without giving deal details, the statement said the transaction values SB Energy India at an enterprise valuation of approximately $3.5 billion, it stated. The transaction marks the largest acquisition in the renewable energy sector in India.
India and the United States have agreed to revamp their strategic energy partnership with a greater focus on cleaner energy sectors, an official statement said. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday held an "introductory meeting" with US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. The two leaders reviewed the India-US Strategic Energy Cooperation (SEP). The two nations will intensify efforts to take advantage of advanced US technologies and India's rapidly growing energy market, the statement said.
One hundred and forty nine new individuals joined the rich list club of 1,103 Indians across 122 cities who cumulatively accumulated a wealth of Rs 100 trillion. Bengaluru -based Kaivalya Vohra, 19, of grocery delivery application Zepto is the youngest self-made and the youngest rich individual, according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022. The report found 1,103 Indians with a networth of Rs 1,000 crore each - an increase of 62 per cent over five years. There are 221 billionaires (Rs 100 crore networth) in India on the 2022 list - down 16 compared with last year, while 13 people born in the 1990s made it to the list, all self-made.
Billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday said his logistics-to-energy conglomerate will invest $70 billion over the next decade to become the world's largest renewable energy company and produce world's cheapest hydrogen. Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), the world's largest solar power developer, is targeting 45 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and will invest $20 billion to develop a 2 GW per year solar manufacturing capacity by 2022-23. Adani Transmission Ltd (ATL), India's largest private sector power transmission and retail distribution company, is looking to increase the share of renewable power procurement from the current 3 per cent to 30 per cent by FY 2023 and to 70 per cent by FY 2030.
Edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) on Monday filed the draft red herring prospectus with markets regulator Sebi for an initial public offer to raise up to Rs 4,500 crore. The company, which sells cooking oils under the Fortune brand, is a major player in the edible oil industry.
Gautam Adani on Tuesday said his ports-to-energy conglomerate never slowed or stopped investing in the country as the group's success is based on its alignment with the India growth story. Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting of the group companies, he said the previously announced $70 billion investment in new energy business will help turn India from being a net importer of oil and gas to an exporter of clean energy. "Never have we walked away from investing in India, never have we slowed our investments," he said. "We believe our scale, our diversified business, and our track record of performance positions us very strongly to continue to perform well in a variety of market conditions."
Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday mentioned about leadership transition at his energy-to-retail conglomerate, saying he wants the process to be accelerated with seniors, including him, yielding to the younger generation. Ambani, 64, who has previously not spoken about succession plans at the country's most valuable company, said Reliance is "now in the process of effecting a momentous leadership transition." Ambani has three children -- twins Akash and Isha, and Anant.
Shares of Adani Green Energy (AGEL) continued their upward movement, hitting a new high of Rs 1,955.90, up 2.6 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market. The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.77 per cent at 60,285 at 11:01 am. In the past 14 trading sessions, the stock of the renewable energy arm of the diversified Adani Group has zoomed 50 per cent from Rs 1,307.05 on December 30, 2021. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 4.3 per cent during the same period.
Capital markets regulator Sebi has kept the proposed Rs 4,500-crore initial share-sale of edible oil major Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) in "abeyance". However, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) did not clarify further. The company had filed preliminary papers with Sebi on August 3, to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).
Owing to a big rise in the market capitalisation of group companies such as Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission, the group promoters, the Gautam Adani family, have closed the wealth gap with Mukesh Ambani, the promoter and owner of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Ambani continues to top India's billionaire league table. The Ambani family's net worth was estimated to be Rs 8.06 trillion (around $108 billion) on Tuesday against the Rs 6.87 trillion (around $92 billion) of the Adani family.
Billionaire Gautam Adani's group on Monday said it has written confirmation that accounts of three foreign funds that are among its top shareholders are not frozen and reports to the contrary are "blatantly erroneous and misleading". Shares of Adani group companies plunged on Monday after reports that the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) froze the accounts of the three foreign funds that are among the top stakeholders in the firms. Adani Enterprises, the conglomerate's flagship company, as also Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Green Energy Ltd, Adani Transmission Ltd, Adani Power and Adani Total Gas Ltd in identical filings to the stock exchanges said the reports of NSDL freezing accounts of Albula Investment Fund, Cresta Fund and APMS Investment Fund holding shares in the group firms were "blatantly erroneous and is done to deliberately mislead the investing community."
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday laid bare the succession plan at India's most valuable company, identifying twins children Akash and Isha for telecom and retail leadership, and youngest son Anant for new energy unit. He, however, insisted he isn't retiring yet and will "continue to provide hands-on leadership as before". At the annual shareholders' meeting of Reliance Industries Ltd, he said the robust architecture that he has announced will ensure the firm remains "a unit, well-integrated and secure institution even as it develops existing businesses and adds new growth engines."
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has invested euro 25 million in German solar wafer maker NexWafe GmbH to use the firm's technology to set up giga-scale wafer manufacturing facilities in India. "NexWafe GmbH (NexWafe) today announced the induction of Reliance New Energy Solar Limited (RNESL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (Reliance) as a strategic lead investor in its euro 39 million ($45 million) Series C financing round with an investment of euro 25 million ($29 million) in phase one," the Indian firm said in a late Tuesday evening statement. The investment by Reliance will accelerate product and technology development for NexWafe, including the completion of the commercial development of NexWafe's solar photovoltaic products on prototype lines in Freiburg.
Reliance Industries will by 2030 create or enable capacity to generate at least 100 gigawatts of electricity from renewable sources, which can be converted into carbon-free green hydrogen, its chairman Mukesh Ambani said Friday as he outlined a 1-1-1 vision to bring down the cost of hydrogen to under $1 per 1 kg in 1 decade. The focus on generating electricity from renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind -will help cut carbon emissions in the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter. The same electricity, when converted into green hydrogen, can replace petrol and diesel in automobiles and other fuels in the industry, helping cut down on the use of fossil fuels, carbon emissions and reduce import dependence.
The Republic Day parade, which will begin at around 1030 am, will be a unique mix of the country's military prowess and cultural diversity, depicting the country's growing indigenous capabilities, Nari Shakti and emergence of a 'New India'.
Mukesh Ambani has resigned from the board of his group's telecom arm, Reliance Jio and handed over the reins of the company to elder son Akash, a step seen as succession planning by the 65-year old billionaire. In a stock exchange filing, Reliance Jio Infocomm said the company's board at a meeting on June 27, "approved the appointment of Akash M Ambani, non-executive director, as chairman of the board of directors of the company." This comes after his father resigned with effect from close of working hours on June 27, it said.
Weeks after confusion over three Mauritius-based funds whipsawing shares of Adani group firms, billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said that "twisted narrative" seems to imply that companies have regulatory powers over their shareholders and can compel disclosures. Shares of port-to-energy group nosedived last month after reports that accounts of three of the six Mauritius-based funds that have invested most of their money in Adani group firms had been frozen by the national share depository. The three funds owned about $6 billion of shares across the conglomerate.
Foreign investment firms, especially private equity, are jittery about the Indian market as uncertainty continues to shroud the energy sector.
'We are planning load shedding in such a way that the entire state will not suffer.'
With this contract, Adani Green now has a portfolio of 15 GW of renewable power generating assets.
In a country that is often focused on the ways in which it falls short, the start of a year is a good time to remind oneself of such positives, observes T N Ninan.