Adani Group AGM 2023: Gautam Adani Says Faith In ‘Mathrubhumi’ & Strong Fundamentals Desisted Hindenburg Attack

He emphasised that the conglomerate's recovery following Hindenburg's attack has been due to its inherent resilience, transparency and strong fundamentals.

New Delhi: Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani was enthusiastic like always while addressing the shareholders at the group’s Annual General Meeting today. In his speech, the billionaire ensured that he spoke about how the conglomerate recovered from the attack by Hindenburg Research.

The Allegation

Neither Gautam Adani nor the several thousands who’ve invested in his companies would find it easy to forget 24 January 2023. That was the day when New York-based short seller Hindenburg Research released a report titled “Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History”.

The report accused the conglomerate of “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.” It also alleged that the conglomerate parked money in offshore accounts illegally. The report was apparently timed to target a Rs 20,000 crore follow on public offering (FPO) by Adani Enterprises.

Even though the FPO was fully subscribed by the last day, Adani Group called off the public offering saying that the company aims to protect the interest of its investing community.

Road To Recovery

Months after the allegations, the listed stocks of Adani Group are on the road to recovery. The hullaballoo around Hindenburg report is no more among the investors after a Supreme Court-appointed panel gave a clean chit to Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) saying there is no evidence of a “regulatory failure”. Even though Adani Group stocks have gained so much after the plunge they had following the publication of the report, they’re from from reaching their highest levels.

What Gautam Adani Said At Adani Group Annual General Meeting

• After giving a short narrative of the journey of his own group as well as India’s economy and potential both of these hold, Gautam Adani evoked the sentiments of motherland while speaking at the AGM of the group.
• He emphasised that the conglomerate’s recovery following Hindenburg’s attack has been due to its inherent resilience, transparency and strong fundamentals.
• “Along this journey, if there is one characteristic that has continued to define us – it has been our resilience. The resilience that allows us to get up stronger every time we take a hit. The resilience that drives our belief in the nation we call our mathrubhumi (motherland),” said Gautam Adani.
• Gautam Adani once again shrugged off the allegations levelled by the Hindenburg report. He said, “The report was a combination of targeted misinformation and discredited allegations, the majority of them dating from 2004 to 2015. They were all settled by the appropriate authorities at that time. This report was a deliberate and malicious attempt aimed at damaging our reputation and generating profits through a short-term drive-down of our stock prices.”
• Gautam Adani reiterated his faith in India while speaking today at the AGM. He said, “Over the past decade – one statement that I have repeated dozens of times – is my belief in the future of the nation we call our matrubhumi. Let me try and set some context.” He then went on to speak about the crisis which global economy is going through and how he saw a bright future awaiting India. He also spoke about the “stable government” in India, policy-making, the demographic dividend and growing domestic demand.
• “Following our independence, it took us 58 years to get to our first trillion dollars of GDP, 12 years to get to the next trillion and just 5 years for the third trillion. I anticipate that within the next decade, India will start adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 18 months. This puts us on track to be a 25 to 30 trillion-dollar economy by 2050 and will drive India’s stock market capitalization to over 40 trillion dollars – approximately a 10X expansion from current levels,” Adani said.
• While speaking about the glorious past and future of India, Gautam Adani did not miss underlining the strong fundamentals of his group and how it did not lose any market credibility despite the Hindenburg attack. “Our track record speaks for itself, and I am grateful for the support our stakeholders have shown as we went through our challenges. 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. This is the strongest validation of the belief that the investors have in your company’s governance and capital allocation practices,” he said.
• “When I founded the Adani Group over three decades back, I had never have imagined that the Adani Group would grow to become one of the largest conglomerates of the country. It was on the 12th of September 1994 that Adani Enterprises, then known as Adani Exports, launched its IPO. I had just turned 32.”
• “Today, as I reflect over the past years, I am grateful to so many, who have enabled your company to come this far. While our true ambitions still lie ahead of us – when we make time to look back – we also realize how much ground we have covered over the past 30 years. Along this journey, if there is one characteristic that has continued to define us – it has been our resilience,” Adani added in his address to the shareholders.