Mumbai: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday dismissed the withdrawal of Adani FPOs as of little consequence and said the meltdown of India’s fastest-rising group during the Modi Government would impact neither the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals nor its reputation.
On Saturday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that regulators independent of the government will do their jobs and that a pull-out of FPO will not impact India’s perception. “Regulators are independent of the government and they are left to themselves to do what is appropriate so the market is well regulated,” the finance minister said while addressing a post-Budget 2023-24 conference in Mumbai on Saturday.
“This is not the first time that some FPO (follow-on public offering) is taken back. How many times that has affected the image of the country?”
On Wednesday, Adani Enterprises decided not to go ahead with its fully subscribed Follow-on Public Offer (FPO), with the Group chairman Gautam Adani stating on Thursday that it would not be “morally correct” to go ahead with the Rs 20,000-crore share in the current market condition. A report by the New York-based short seller had on January 24, accused Adani Group of brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud among others.
The US-based firm, in its report, raised concerns about shares of Adani group companies having a possibility of declining from their current levels, owing to high valuations. In response, Adani Group said Hindenburg’s report was not an attack on any specific company but a “calculated attack” on India, its growth story, and ambitions. It added the report was “nothing but a lie”.
In its rebuttal Hinderburg Adani has “stoked a nationalist narrative” that seeks to conflate the “meteoric rise and the wealth of its chairman, Gautam Adani, with the success of India itself.”
ANI