Having fallen out of the top 20 in the list of the world’s richest people, India’s Gautam Adani moved up to 17th place on Tuesday after strong gains in the Indian stock markets.
But that was almost $110 billion poorer for the Adani Group companies since the stocks rout began and it hurt the man who had peaked at No.2 very recently.
The 60-year-old Indian billionaire’s personal fortune was estimated at $119 billion on January 24 by Bloomberg, but has now come down to $64.3 billion (as per Forbes Live Billionaire Index). This was after the rally in Adani Enterprise stock in the Bombay Stock Exchange, where it had gone up by 20 percent early in the trading and is now up 17 percent to ₹1842 ($22.27).
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone had edged up by 7.5 percent.
Adani-Hindenburg row
The flagship company of the group had slumped from a 52-week high of ₹4,190 ($50.66) to a low of ₹1,017 ($12.3) last week – a drop of nearly 75.7 percent since the Hindenburg Research produced a damning report, where it accused Adani of stock manipulation, investing in own companies through shell companies and other fraudulent activities.
The group rejected the allegations as baseless and has threatened to pursue all possible legal remedies in Indian courts.
In a 413-page report on January 29, the group said: “This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.”
The sell-off was unabated in some companies even as the group announced it is pre-paying $1.11 billion of loans on shares ahead of their maturity in 2024.
The crisis led to public protests on Monday, with hundreds gathering in Mumbai and Delhi, including in front of the offices of Life Insurance Corporation of India and State Bank of India, who have both revealed large exposure to Adani Group companies.
Credit-rating company Fitch Ratings maintained its outlook on the group, but S&P Global Ratings lowered the ratings on Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone and Adani Electricity Mumbai to negative from stable.
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