Centre Refuses to Comment on Impact of Hindenburg on Adani Group Shares

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 2nd Feb. The government refused to comment on Wednesday on the fraud allegations leveled by a US short seller against Adani Group, which triggered a massive USD 90 billion drop in the group’s shares, stating that it does not comment on individual company matters.

“We in government don’t respond to issues related to a particular company,” Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth said during the post Budget interaction with the media here.

On Tuesday, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran had also refused to comment on the impact of the rout in Adani Group shares following a damning report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.

Shares of Adani Group firms fell on Wednesday, losing more than 7 lakh crore, or about 38% of their combined market cap, in the last five trading sessions due to concerns raised by a report by US-based short seller Hindenburg Research.

The bourses have taken a beating after Hindenburg made a slew of allegations against the Gautam Adani-led group in the report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation.

Hindenburg published the report on January 24, the same day Adani Enterprises’ 20,000-crore follow-on share sale opened for anchor investors, while the conglomerate has denied the allegations.

At the end of Wednesday’s trading session, all of the group companies were in the red, with three companies’ shares reaching their lowest price band.

Shares of Adani Enterprises nosedived 28.45 per cent to close at ₹ 2,128.70 on the BSE despite the company’s ₹ 20,000-crore share sale sailed through on the last day on Tuesday after non-retail investors bid in big volumes. There was, however, a muted response from retail investors and company employees.

The counter of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone plunged 19.69 per cent, Adani Total Gas slumped 10 per cent, Adani Green Energy declined 5.78 per cent, Adani Wilmar fell 4.99 per cent, Adani Wilmar went down 4.99 per cent, Adani Power dropped 4.98 per cent and Adani Transmission slipped 2.46 per cent.

Furthermore, Ambuja Cements fell 16.56 percent, ACC fell 6.34 percent, and NDTV fell 4.98 percent.