The Adani group denied all allegations and questioned the timing of the latest report when general elections are going on in the country
Our Bureau
Mumbai
Indian markets appear to have dismissed coal invoicing allegations by Financial Times and OCCRP against the Adani Group. Adani Group’s market capitalization continued to gain for the ninth consecutive day on Wednesday. The group’s market capitalization crossed Rs 16.5 lakh crore on Wednesday, gaining 10.6 per cent in the past nine trading sessions.
The gain continued on a day when London-based Financial Times, citing documents from George Soros-backed Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), in a report, charged the Adani group of fraud and selling low-grade coal as high-value fuel in the year 2013 to Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company.
This suggests that the markets have dismissed the report on the group by OCCRP and Financial Times and it continues to see value in the Adani group stocks.
The consistent rise in the group’s market capitalization over the past year shows that despite allegations, investors have reposed faith in the Adani group companies.
Group’s market capitalization has increased by 56.6 per cent in the last year, outperforming the broader market Nifty, which has gained 23.3 per cent during the same period.
This is the third time that two foreign media platforms have published negative reports on the group. The Adani group denied all allegations and questioned the timing of the latest report when general elections are going on in the country.
The latest report is based on coal supply transactions of 2012-13 when the UPA government was at the center. The market appears to be viewing it as an external interference to influence the Indian voters.
The news report was cited by opposition leaders including Mahua Moitra of All India Trinamool Congress and Jairam Ramesh of Congress to demand a probe by Joint Parliamentary Committee into the alleged wrongdoing.
However, the strength and resilience shown by Adani group stocks suggest that the investors seem uninfluenced by these kinds of attacks on the group and continue to back Adani group.
Adani Energy Solutions fully acquires Essar’s Mahan-Sipat assets
Our Bureau
Ahmedabad
Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL), which is into power transmission and distribution, has acquired 100 per cent stake in Essar Transco Limited after obtaining requisite regulatory and other approvals for an enterprise value of Rs 1,900 crores.
The share acquisition preceded definitive agreements signed back in June 2022, the Adani Group company informed in a release on Thursday.
The acquisition covers a fully operational 400 kV, 673 ckt kms inter-state transmission line linking Mahan in Madhya Pradesh to Sipat pooling substation in Chhattisgarh. The project operates under the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) regulated return framework and was commissioned in September 2018.
The acquisition of the Mahan-Sipat transmission network will consolidate its presence in central India with four operating assets having 3,373 ckt km in the region.
The acquisition is consistent with the company’s philosophy of augmenting its existing capacities and bringing in efficiency through operational synergies and creating network effect, it said in the release.
“Along with a robust energy demand, the ability to recognize and tap market opportunities within the areas of interest continues to propel and position AESL at the forefront of energy transition in India,” it added.
AESL has presence across 17 states of India and a cumulative transmission network of 21,182 ckm and 57,011 MVA transformation capacity.
In its distribution business, AESL serves more than 12 million consumers in metropolitan Mumbai and the industrial hub of Mundra SEZ.
AESL said it is ramping up its smart metering business and is on course to become India’s leading smart metering integrator with an order book of over 22.8 million meters.
