According to the Adani Group, the claims were based on closed cases from a decade ago.
New Delhi:
The Adani Group today categorically rejected allegations of hidden foreign investors in a report by the George Soros-owned Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
“We categorically reject these recycled allegations. These news reports appear to be yet another concerted bid by Soros-funded interests supported by a section of the foreign media to revive the meritless Hindenburg report. In fact, this was anticipated, as was reported by the media last week,” the Adani Group said in a statement.
“An independent adjudicating authority and an appellate tribunal had both confirmed that there was no over-valuation and that the transactions were in accordance with applicable law,” the Adani Group asserted.
It is vital to respect the ongoing regulatory process, given that the Supreme Court and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) are both overseeing the matter.
“We have complete faith in the due process of law and remain confident of the quality of our disclosures and corporate governance standards. In light of these facts, the timing of these news reports is suspicious, mischievous and malicious – and we reject these reports in their entirety,” the statement said.
“The matter attained finality in March 2023 when the Supreme Court of India ruled in our favour. Clearly, since there was no over-valuation, there is no relevance or foundation for these allegations on transfer of funds.”
According to the company, the claims were based on closed cases from a decade ago when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) probed allegations of over invoicing, transfer of funds abroad, related party transactions and investments through FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investment).
“Notably, these FPIs are already part of the investigation by the SEBI. As per the Expert Committee appointed by the Supreme Court, there is no evidence of any breach of the Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) requirements or manipulation of stock prices,” said the group.
“It is unfortunate that these publications, which sent us queries, chose not to carry our response in full. These attempts are aimed at, inter alia, generating profits by driving down our stock prices and these short sellers are under investigation by various authorities,” said the port-to-energy conglomerate.
