Month after Hindenburg report, market cap plunges from Rs 19 lakh crore to Rs 7.2 lakh crore

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 24

There was mixed news for the Adani Group on its new projects even as shares of its 10 listed companies continued to slide making the fall in their market capitalisation one of the sharpest in recent history.

Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment approved two wind power plants of Adani Green Energy at Mannar and Pooneryn for an investment of about $ 500 million (Rs 4,000 crores).

On the other hand, Adani Power said in a regulatory filing that its subsidiary APML had decided to terminate an agreement with Orient Cement for the utilisation of land in Maharashtra.

Adani Group’s market capitalisation has dropped to Rs. 7.2 lakh crore on Friday from Rs 19 lakh crore exactly a month back when the Hindenburg report alleged stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens.

The Sri Lanka Board of Investment said on Friday that it had issued a letter of approval to Adani Green Energy for two wind power plants. The wind power plant in Mannar will have a capacity of 250 megawatt (MW) and the one in Pooneryn will have a capacity of 100 MW. They are to be commissioned in two years and connected to the national grid by 2025.

Interestingly, in this case there were accusations, later retracted, that the then Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had said PM Narendra Modi was insisting on the project being awarded to the Adani Group. Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board MMC Ferdinando, who resigned from his post, said he had mistakenly made the allegations after he was grilled by the Committee on Public Enterprises session last Friday. Gotabaya also said, “I categorically deny authorisation to award this project to any specific person or entity. I trust responsible communication in this regard will follow.”

#Gautam Adani
#Hindenburg Report
#Sri Lanka