Adani assures focus on governance at shareholder meet

Billionaire Gautam Adani emphasized his group’s commitment to improving governance standards during Adani Enterprises Ltd’s (AEL’s) first shareholder meeting after allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud made by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research earlier this year.

- Anirudh Laskar

“It is my commitment that we will continue to strive to keep improving these (governance standards) every single day," he told shareholders at AEL’s 31st annual general meeting (AGM) while sounding upbeat about the conglomerate’s growth prospects amid India’s ambitious infrastructure spending plan and economic resilience.

“While the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is still to submit its report, we remain confident of our governance and disclosure standards," Adani said. Adani Group stocks have staged a sharp recovery after witnessing a massive $155 billion wipeout in investor wealth after the Hindenburg report was published on 24 January.

Most of the recovery in Adani Group’s 10 listed firms’ shares came after US-based investment manager GQG Partners Llc invested $1.87 billion in four key Adani Group firms on 3 March. The Rajiv Jain-led firm has pumped in over ₹24,500 crore in various Adani firms over the past three months.

From their lows after the Hindenburg report, stocks of most of the Adani Group firms have recovered 50-100%, while recouping $44 billion in total market capitalization as of Tuesday.

“It is worth noting that even during this crisis, not only did we raise several billions from international investors, but also that no credit agency—in India or abroad—cut any of our ratings," he said, adding that the group is confident of boosting its balance sheet during the ongoing fiscal. “Our balance sheet, our assets, and our operating cash flows continue to get stronger and are now healthier than ever before."