Gautam Adani, chairman of the Ahmedabad-based Adani group, has come out and made a case for the first time since the storm of US indictment hit him and his company.
Adani Responds To Allegations
Gautam Adani, who is one of the richest person in India, defiantly reiterated his company stance on compliance and rectitude.
Adani said that every attack against him and his company only makes them stronger.
Adani was speaking at the 51st Gem & Jewellery Awards. This was the Adani group chairman’s first public address since the allegations and the indictment emerged in November.
In his address in Jaipur, he said, “As most of you would have read less than 2 weeks back, we faced a set of allegations from the US about compliance practises at Adani Green Energy.”
Committed to Compliance
Gautam Adani laid emphasis on the previous instances of ‘attacks’ against his company’s activities. he added, “This is not the first time we have faced such challenges. What I can tell you is that every attack makes us stronger and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone. Despite a lot of the vested reporting, no one from the Adani side has been charged with any violation of the FCPA or any conspiracy to obstruct justice.”
He further added,” “In today’s world, negativity spreads faster than facts. As we work through the legal process, I want to reconfirm our absolute commitment to world-class regulatory compliance.”
SC Vindicated The Group
Citing the previous instances, Adani said that they faced a short-selling attack at a crucial juncture, earlier this year, when the company was gearing up for Follow-on Public Offering.
Adani said that the company was dragged into a political controversy.
Highlighting his company’s success in withering those charges, he said, ” But even in the face of such adversity, our commitment to our principles remained strong. After successfully raising Rs 20,000 crore from India’s largest-ever FPO, we made the extraordinary decision to return the proceeds.”
“We then further demonstrated our resilience by raising capital from several international sources and proactively reducing our Debt to EBITDA ratio to below 2.5 times, an unmatched metric in the global infrastructure space. Moreover, our all-time record financial results in the same year showcased our commitment to operational excellence. Not a single Indian or foreign credit rating agency downgraded us. Finally, the Supreme Court of India’s affirmation of our actions validated our approach.”
US Indicts Adanis
Earlier in November, a US Federal court issued indictment order against Gautam Adani and 7 others, including his nephew Sagar Adani in a mass bribery case involving USD 265 million. The group has been accused on bribing Indian officials to bag lucrative solar power deals. The group and its administration has also been accused of misleading US investors.
The group has denied these charges, and called them baseless.
