Gautam Adani on Hindenburg report: ‘Trials & tribulations…made us stronger’

In its January 24 report last year, Hindenburg had alleged improper use of tax havens by Adani Group and flagged concerns about debt levels

Billionaire Gautam Adani on Thursday spoke on the Hindenburg report that had levelled explosive allegations against his business empire last year, stating that the "trials and tribulations" of the past year made the conglomerate stronger.

In his column in a leading newspaper, the 61-year-old tycoon dubbed the US short seller's report accusing him of fraud and stock market manipulation as ‘lies’ and a compilation of ‘old and dead allegations’.

Adani was listed as the world's second richest at the start of 2023 but slipped out of the top 20 after the report was released.

Adani was listed as the world's second richest at the start of 2023 but slipped out of the top 20 after the report was released (AP)

"Fatuously self-styled as a research report", Hindenburg report "was a cunningly crafted set of selective half-truths sourced from disclosed and publicly available information," PTI quoted Adani as saying.

Adani said he expected that the point-by-point rebuttal of allegations put by Adani Group would put an end to the episode.

In its January 24 report last year, Hindenburg had alleged improper use of tax havens and flagged concerns about debt levels. The report had triggered an $86 billion rout in the Adani group's domestically listed stocks and a sell-off in its bonds listed overseas.

‘Pained due to small investors losing their savings’

"The lies against us were corrosive enough to substantially erode the market cap of our portfolio as, typically, capital markets are more emotional than rational," Adani said in the newspaper column, adding that he was ‘pained’ due to thousands of small investors losing their savings.

“Had detractors' plan fully succeeded, the domino effect could have crippled many critical infrastructure assets, ranging from seaports and airports to the power supply chain -- a catastrophic situation for any country,” Adani added.

"However, thanks to our solid assets, the robustness of our operations and the high quality of our disclosures, the more informed financial community, including lenders and rating agencies, refused to be swayed by the swirling lies and stood solidly with us," the industrialist said.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking special investigation team (SIT) probe against Adani over allegations levelled by Hindenburg.

Adani concluded the piece by saying “the trials and tribulations of the past year have taught us valuable lessons, made us stronger and reaffirmed our faith in Indian institutions.”