Why Adani bears the brunt of Western attacks

We know that a section of the West is after Adani. We know of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s diatribes against Adani. But what do experts say about the Adani Group of Companies?

Three days ago, The Financial Times, one of the Western press outlets that are after the Indian economy, published a scandalous report, targeting Adani again.

 

Go to the FT website. Look for “adani”. As of 23 May 2024, we got 635 articles, mostly critical. We found 125 entries in the last year alone, all negative.

FT seems to have taken a cue from the short seller Hindenburg Research whose damning report had cost Adani billions. 

Hindenburg made wide-ranging allegations against the Adani conglomerate in January 2023. It led to Sebi issuing notices to Adani in Q4 of 2023-24.

How Adani suffered last year

In the first six months following the report, the Indian tycoon suffered…

1.    A market capitalization loss of over $100 billion

2.    A fall in the shares of various Adani Group companies, with Adani Enterprises witnessing a drop of nearly 60% from its pre-Hindenburg peak.

3.    A drop in the value of bonds issued by Adani Group companies.

4.    A loss of investor confidence, resulting in a sell-off across Adani Group stocks and bonds.

But the magnate has only emerged stronger, despite even some political parties reducing him to a tool to score brownie points. It returned to the 100-billion-dollar club in February this year.

Adani has planned a 3-billion-dollar investment to boost its port capacity globally in 3-5 years.

This will link India to Europe through central and western Asia.

With

•    An installed capacity of 15,250 MW

•    A plant load factor of 71.5% and

•    22.1 billion units sold,

The operating performance for Adani Power Ltd’s Q4 FY 2023-24 included significant contributions from the newly commissioned 1600 MW Godda Ultra-Supercritical Thermal Power Plant.

Adani Green Energy announced a significant investment plan totalling 2.3 trillion rupees or 27.6 billion dollars to expand its green energy production.

Adani bounces back after every attack

The story was no different in the past two days. FT attacked Adani again. Adani bounced back again.

A market expert assesses the viability of Adani Enterprises Limited and finds the company mostly viable. Market analyst Cantor Fitzgerald rubbishes the Adani-related report in FT. He says the FT failed to consider the fact that Adani had increased the value of the coal, bore the extra cost and, hence, there was no scam in 2013, unlike what the FT reported.

 

The next day, India’s largest media groups published Adani’s clarification. Business papers publish Fitzgerald’s opinion too. And AEL’s shares shot up the next day: 3,398 on 23 May 2024 was just shy of AEL’s all-time high of 4,190.

Do the tycoon’s detractors not see this pattern? Why don’t they give up? Is Adani merely an excuse? Is the Indian economy their real target? After all, the decline in the stocks of the Adani group in 2023 did have a significant impact on the Indian economy.

The benchmark indices such as the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty experienced volatility, for example, following the release of the Hindenburg Research report in January 2023.

State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank experienced drops in their stock values due to concerns over their exposure to Adani debt.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out funds from Indian equities. Data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed net outflows in the months following the report.

 

The rupee experienced depreciation against the dollar, partly due to the outflows and overall market uncertainty.

 

Yields on Adani Group bonds spiked as investors demanded higher returns to compensate for perceived risks.

 

Infrastructure projects and new investments by the Adani Group were put under scrutiny, leading to delays in key projects.

Business sentiment surveys and economic confidence indicators showed a dip in confidence among investors and corporate executives.

 

This proves it was India that a section of the West targeted. Targeting Adani was a means to that end.