From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday demanded a probe by the RBI and the SEBI into a maze of transactions of many listed Adani group firms exposed byHindenburg Research investigations.
In a statement, Congress chief spokesman and general secretary Jairam Ramesh said: “Normally a political party should not be reacting to a research on an individual company or business group. But the formic analysis by Hidenburg Research of the Adani Group demands a response since the group is a closely identified with Prime Minister Modi since the time he was the chief minister.
Jairam said the high exposure of financial institutions such as LIC and SBI to the Adani Group has implications for financial stability. The Hindenburg report alleges “bean stock manipulation” and “accounting fraud by the Adani Group via a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities.”
“For all its posturing about the black money, has the Modi government choe to turn a blind eye towards the illicit activities by its favourite business group? Is this quid pro quo,” Jairam asked.
“The allegations of financial malfeasance would be bad enough, but what is worse is that the Modi government may have exposed India’s financial system to systemic risks through the liberal investments in the Adani Group made by strategic state entities like LIC, SBI and other public sector banks,” he said.
“The allegations require serious investigation by those who are responsible for the stability and security of the Indian financial system, viz. the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),” Jairam said.
“These institutions have liberally financed the Adani Group even as their private sector counterparts have chosen to avoid investing because of concerns over corporate governance and indebtedness. As much as 8% of LIC’s equity assets under management, amounting to a gigantic sum of ₹74,000 crore, are in Adani companies and comprise its second-largest holdings,” Jairam added.
