Adani Group hits out at Financial Times for trying to tarnish reputation, financially destabilise company

The Adani Group has condemned the UK-based newspaper Financial Times' for "raking up an old, baseless allegation of over-invoicing of coal imports". In an exchange filing tabled on Monday, the Adani Group said the newspaper is launching a "malicious campaign to drag down its market value and tarnish its reputation".

It added that the UK-based newspaper had failed earlier in its attempts and is now making another effort to "financially destabilise" the Adani Group.

"Continuing their relentless campaign, the next attack is being fronted by Dan McCrum of the Financial Times, who jointly with the OCCRP put out a false narrative against the Adani Group on August 31 2023. The OCCRP is funded by George Soros, who has openly declared his hostility against the Adani Group," the statement said.

Denying the allegations, the Adani Group said such attempts are "deliberate, and motivated attempts to destabilise" it. "We are a law-abiding company which is fully compliant with all rules, regulations and disclosure requirements with full respect for the rule of law," the group said in the statement.

The Adani Group alleged that the articles in Financial Times were part of an extended campaign to advance vested interests under the guise of public interest.

"The FT's proposed story is based on the DRI's General Alert Circular No.11/2016/CI dated March 30, 2016. The FT's brazen agenda is exposed by the fact that they have singled out the Adani Group, while the DRI's Circular, the raison d'etre for the whole story, mentions as many as 40 importers including the Adani Group companies," it added.

"This list not only includes some of India's major private power generators like Reliance Infra, JSW Steels and Essar but also the state power generating companies of Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, etc. and the NTPC and MSTC."

The Customs, Excise and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) had however quashed the case. DRI went in for an appeal but the Supreme Court this year dismissed its petition.

In the statement, the Adani Group said the DRI's show cause notice alleging over-valuation in the import of coal was dismissed by the appellate tribunal (CESTAT).

"The FT's proposed storyline is a clever recycling and selective misrepresentation of publicly available facts and information with a deliberate and mischievous suppression of judicial decisions to arrive at a predetermined conclusion. It shows scant respect for India's regulatory and judicial processes and authorities. It also deliberately ignores the fact that coal procurement in India on a long-term supply basis is done through an open, transparent, global bidding process thereby eliminating any possibility of price manipulation."

The company further said that the tariff fixation by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) is an open, transparent, independent process where the tariffs are fixed after carefully evaluating all variables and in consultations with the power generator, distributor and retail consumers.

It added that the stakeholders have multiple opportunities to look at all aspects determining the tariffs, including the import value of coal.
"Hence the question of over-invoicing or price manipulation does not arise," it added.

It is to be noted that FT's reporters McCrum and John Reed in August 2023 reported that two men allegedly linked to Gautam Adani's brother Vinod Adani were using Bermuda's Global Opportunities Fund "to amass and trade large positions in shares of the Adani Group". They identified the two men as Nasser Ali Shaban Ahli from the United Arab Emirates and Chang Chung-Ling from Taiwan.

Shares of Adani Enterprises Ltd were trading at Rs 2,486.85, up by 1.86 per cent, at 11.30 AM.

Also read: Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, Adani Port: Adani Group shares rise up 3% in early trade

Also read: Israel-Hamas war: Adani Ports shares update on Haifa port; stock rises 3%