Adani Group calls Hindenburg fraud claim a ‘calculated attack on India’

Adani Group, the Indian conglomerate owned by Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani, said that Hindenburg Research’s fraud claims against the firm were a “calculated attack on India,” in a detailed document released on Sunday.

The document, which is over 400 pages long, was released as a rebuttal of fraud allegations by short seller Hindenburg Research.

On Sunday, Hindenburg said that Adani “failed to specifically answer 62 of 88 questions” detailed in its report, which stated that the Indian conglomerate had more than $50 billion wiped off its stock market value last week.

“All transactions entered into by us with entities who qualify as “related parties” under Indian laws and accounting standards have been duly disclosed by us,” Adani Group said in the document issued on Sunday.

Without citing evidence, it also accused the Hindenburg report of intending to enable the US-based short seller to book financial gains.

“This is rife with conflict of interest and intended only to create a false market in securities to enable Hindenburg, an admitted short seller, to book massive financial gain through wrongful means at the cost of countless investors,” it stated.

Short selling is a trading strategy where an investor sells securities they do not own, hoping to buy them back at a lower price to make a profit.

In response to the claims made by Adani, Hindenburg said: “To be clear, we believe India is a vibrant democracy and an emerging superpower with an exciting future.”

“We also believe India’s future is being held back by the Adani Group, which has draped itself in the Indian flag while systematically looting the nation.”

Adani Enterprises, the flagship company of the Adani Group, is proceeding with a $2.5 billion share sale this week.

Meanwhile, Hindenburg Research published a report last week that raised concerns about the Group’s ownership of companies in offshore tax havens such as the Caribbean and Mauritius.

The report also alleged that Adani companies are heavily indebted, which could put the entire group in a financially vulnerable position.

In response, the Indian conglomerate announced that it is looking into taking both remedial and punitive action against Hindenburg Research in both the US and India.

Adani emphasized that the company always followed all applicable laws.