Gautam Adani vows to expand empire in the face of short-seller onslaught

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Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has outlined ambitious renewable energy expansion plans and defended his group’s financial health in defiance of a short-seller onslaught that has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of his listed companies.

Addressing the annual general meeting of Adani Enterprises via video on Tuesday, the billionaire said his group is building a 20GW hybrid renewable energy project at Khavda in the Indian state of Gujarat.

He said the group was expanding the international programming and coverage of television channel NDTV, and vowed that his logistics company would be “the world’s most profitable port company” by 2030.

Adani said, “We could choose to settle with mediocre growth numbers, or we could wake up each day believing that we are on the verge of being one of the most influential conglomerates our country has ever created.” Referring to the number of employees in the group, he said, “Forty-four thousand Adanis chose the latter option.”

The annual meeting of Adani Enterprises, the flagship entity of the Adani Group, was the first after allegations published by Hindenburg Research in January that Adani companies were involved in share price manipulation and accounting fraud.

Adani described the report, which saw the combined market capitalization of its listed companies fall by $150 billion at its worst ever, as “a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation”. Since then there has been a partial correction in the shares of the listed companies of the group.

Adani said the group’s balance sheet is “healthier than ever”. Fitch-owned ratings company CreditSights had last year described the Adani group as a “deep leverage”.

Since the short-seller reports, Adani has reassured investors and bondholders by slowing some investment plans, paying down share-backed debt and selling stakes to outside supporters, including Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners.

In his remarks, Adani invoked the nationalist spirit, saying the company was defined by “resilience”, including “resilience” that drives our faith in the nation we call our own. Homeland (Motherland)” He also said that Hindenburg had attacked on 25 January “the eve of our Republic Day this year”.

Adani, who has aligned himself with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic agenda, has predicted that India will be the world’s second largest economy by 2050, with per capita income rising by more than 700 percent to nearly $16,000.

“I expect that within the next decade, India will start adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 18 months,” said the tycoon, predicting that India will become a $25n to $30tn economy by 2050 .

Adani’s projections were not out of reach, given an average inflation rate of around 4 per cent and a real growth rate of around 5.5 per cent, said Priyanka Kishor, economic director at IMA Asia, a forum for regional business leaders.

American bank Goldman Sachs estimates that by 2050, India’s economy will have a real GDP of $22.2 trillion. London-based consultancy Capital Economics estimates that India will be the world’s third largest economy by 2050.

Get Free Adani Group Updates

we will send you one myFT Daily Digest Latest Email Rounding Adani Group News every morning.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has outlined ambitious renewable energy expansion plans and defended his group’s financial health in defiance of a short-seller onslaught that has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of his listed companies.

Addressing the annual general meeting of Adani Enterprises via video on Tuesday, the billionaire said his group is building a 20GW hybrid renewable energy project at Khavda in the Indian state of Gujarat.

He said the group was expanding the international programming and coverage of television channel NDTV, and vowed that his logistics company would be “the world’s most profitable port company” by 2030.

Adani said, “We could choose to settle with mediocre growth numbers, or we could wake up each day believing that we are on the verge of being one of the most influential conglomerates our country has ever created.” Referring to the number of employees in the group, he said, “Forty-four thousand Adanis chose the latter option.”

The annual meeting of Adani Enterprises, the flagship entity of the Adani Group, was the first after allegations published by Hindenburg Research in January that Adani companies were involved in share price manipulation and accounting fraud.

Adani described the report, which saw the combined market capitalization of its listed companies fall by $150 billion at its worst ever, as “a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation”. Since then there has been a partial correction in the shares of the listed companies of the group.

Adani said the group’s balance sheet is “healthier than ever”. Fitch-owned ratings company CreditSights had last year described the Adani group as a “deep leverage”.

Since the short-seller reports, Adani has reassured investors and bondholders by slowing some investment plans, paying down share-backed debt and selling stakes to outside supporters, including Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners.

In his remarks, Adani invoked the nationalist spirit, saying the company was defined by “resilience”, including “resilience” that drives our faith in the nation we call our own. Homeland (Motherland)” He also said that Hindenburg had attacked on 25 January “the eve of our Republic Day this year”.

Adani, who has aligned himself with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic agenda, has predicted that India will be the world’s second largest economy by 2050, with per capita income rising by more than 700 percent to nearly $16,000.

“I expect that within the next decade, India will start adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 18 months,” said the tycoon, predicting that India will become a $25n to $30tn economy by 2050 .

Adani’s projections were not out of reach, given an average inflation rate of around 4 per cent and a real growth rate of around 5.5 per cent, said Priyanka Kishor, economic director at IMA Asia, a forum for regional business leaders.

American bank Goldman Sachs estimates that by 2050, India’s economy will have a real GDP of $22.2 trillion. London-based consultancy Capital Economics estimates that India will be the world’s third largest economy by 2050.