World's largest sovereign wealth fund excludes Adani Ports & SEZ

Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund and is based in Norway, on Wednesday said it had excluded Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) India's largest port operator from investment owing to "ethical considerations" concerning the firm's sale of its port in Myanmar last year.

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA & SAMIE MODAK

This comes at a time when the group is in the middle of controversies regarding alleged malpractices in corporate governance last year.

Queries sent to APSEZ did not elicit a response till the time of going to press. Shares of APSEZ ended at 1,352, with a gain of 0.3 per cent on the NSE.

This has been the outcome of a decision of the Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, which has kept out US-based L3Harris Technologies and China's Weichai Power too. The fund's ethics council's statement said: "The Council recommends that APSEZ be excluded from investment by the Norwegian GPFG due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war or conflict."

According to the council's report, APSEZ has been under observation since March 2022 due to its alleged business association with the armed forces in Myanmar. This comes on the back of APSEZ's $30 million sale of its port in that country. The sale was then said to have been sealed at a discount of around $120 million. APSEZ told the fund's council that its write-off for the transaction was $152 million.