While multi-billionaire Gautam Adani faces possibly his biggest challenge after shares in his companies slumped when a US short seller Hindenburg Research cast doubts on their business practices, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra continued to target the businessman on Twitter.
“Adani Group will have a busy week ahead: 1) dealing with MSCI 2) organising funds for FPO & 3) propping up Ambuja Cement urgently (given below buy price) with heavy shareholder borrowing & 4) propping up AEL & APSEZ,” Moitra tweeted.
Shares of Adani Group’s listed companies plunged last week, with cumulative losses of $48 billion, after Hindenburg Research accused Adani’s businesses of improper use of offshore tax havens and flagged concerns about high debt.
On Sunday, Adani Group issued a rebuttal, saying it complies with all local laws and had made necessary regulatory disclosures. The conglomerate said Hindenburg report, which it previously said was “baseless”, was intended to enable the US-based short seller to book gains, without citing evidence.
Earlier, Mahua had shared old tweets and letters, and wrote “I Told You So”. The TMC firebrand MP has also targeted the Modi government for its amicable ties with Asia’s richest person.
On Sunday, the CPI(M) demanded a high-level enquiry into alleged irregularities levelled by the US-based investment research firm. The Left party’s general secretary Sitaram Yechury asserted that the enquiry should be monitored by the Supreme Court.
Earlier, the Congress also called for an investigation into the allegations.
“But in an era of globalisation of Indian businesses and financial markets can Hindenburg-type reports that focus on corporate misgovernance be simply brushed aside and dismissed as being “malicious”? We fully understand the close relationship between the Adani Group and the current government. But it is incumbent on the Congress party as a responsible opposition party to urge SEBI and RBI to play their roles as stewards of the financial system and to investigate these allegations in the wider public interest,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a statement on Friday.
