'Each one of their allegations is a lie'

Still bristling at the allegations made by self-proclaimed Hindenburg short-seller Research, Jugeshinder "Robbie" Singh, the chief financial officer of Adani Group, put upa confident front on Sunday evening, stating that the follow on public offer (FPO) of flagship Adani Enterprises will continue as scheduled.

- Swaraj Singh Dhanjal, Anirudh Laskar & Satish John

"If you are in a match of kickboxing, to expect that there will be no kick landing on you is a false assumption. These things happen, and you are mentally prepared for this. It hasn't altered anything," Singh said in an interview. These days, only chairman Gautam Adani and Singh are the faces of the group when it comes to media interactions.

Explaining that Adani Group has had three unexpected event risks in recent years, which caught them unawares: the global pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and the ambush by Hindenburg, Singh said each of these was a learning experience and will help in handling future situations better.

The Adani group has launched a full-scale operation to redeem its image, with the group CFO revealing that by late Sunday evening, it will file before regulators, stock exchanges, and other stakeholders "documentary evidence" that the (Hindenburg) report is a "litany of misrepresentations, falsehood" and an attempt by the short-sellers to use publicly disclosed data to create an event by which a "particular set of people" (read short sellers) can benefit at the expense of investors.

Hindenburg's representation of these disclosures, in some cases ignore a Supreme Court (judgement), "in another case, the high court making a judgement, and ignoring those and still raising questions," Singh fulminated. "It raises malicious intent and the deliberate attempt to mislead the public and other stakeholders.

"We will provide in full documentary form, and that is why our core long-term strategic institutional investors have reposed faith, and we are continuing with the FPO as scheduled." As for Singh, an Australian citizen with a Person of Indian Origin card, his daily calendar, even after the Hindenburg ambush, is unchanged and includes a morning and evening sessions at the gym. Edited Excerpts: