It Will Be Regulators Who Will Do Their Job So That Market Is Well-Regulated: Sitharaman On Adani Crisis

Adani stocks: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said regulators will do what is appropriate to ensure that the market is well-regulated.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that regulators are "left to themselves to do what is appropriate to ensure that the market is well-regulated" while talking about the Adani stocks issue.

She said, "It'll be regulators who'll do their job. RBI made statement, prior to that banks, LIC came out and told about their exposure (to Adani group). Regulators independent of govt, they're left to themselves to do what is appropriate so the market is well regulated."

Reacting to the withdrawal of the Follow-On Public Offering (FPO) by the Adani group, Sitharaman asked, "How many times have the FPO not withdrawn from this country and how many times has the image of India been suffering because of that and how many times the FPOs have not come back?"

"FPOs come and get out. Fluctuations are in every market. The fact that we've had 8 Billion come (Foreign Exchange Reserve) in last few days proves that perception about India and its strength is intact," she added.

A day after Adani Enterprises retracted its Follow-On Public Offering (FPO) of shares worth Rupees 20,000 crore, its chairman, Gautam Adani said that the decision to withdraw the offering was considered after volatility was seen in the market and that “the board felt that it would not have been morally correct to proceed with FPO”.

The company's decision to withdraw the FPO came amid the ongoing row over the Hindenburg Research that accused the Adani Group of using tax havens and flagged debt concerns in a report. 

"Once the market stabilizes, we'll review our capital market strategy. We have a strong focus on ESG & every business of ours will continue to create value in a responsible way. The strongest validation of our governance principles comes from our several int'l partnerships," the business tycoon said in his statement.

Adani Group stocks have been under stress since Hindenburg in its research report titled 'Adani Group: How The World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling The Largest Con In Corporate History', questioned the accounting and corporate governance practices of Adani Group, and also raised the issue of heavy debt last week.

The allegations were strongly refuted by the Adani Group which said Hindenburg’s report is timed with a "mala fide intention" to damage Adani Enterprises FPO.