Congress Asks 3 Questions about Alleged Misrepresentations by Adani Group on Vinod Adani
Moneylife Digital Team 20 February 2023
In the 14th instalment of questions under the series, 'Hum Adani Ke Hai Kaun' (HAHK), the Congress party has asked three questions to prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi related to alleged misrepresentations made by Adani group about Vinod Adani's central role in its activities.
 
Jairam Ramesh, member of Parliament (MP) and general secretary for communication of Congress, says, "As you know, Hindenburg Research has alleged that Vinod Adani 'manages a vast labyrinth of offshore shell entities' that have 'collectively moved billions of dollars into Indian Adani publicly listed and private entities, often without required disclosure of the related party nature of the deals'. In its 29 January, 2023 reply to the charges, the Adani Group stated that 'Vinod Adani does not hold any managerial position in any Adani listed entities or their subsidiaries and has no role in their day-to-day affairs'."
 
Here are the three questions asked by Congress to the PM...
 
1. Despite the Adani group's claims of distancing itself from Vinod Adani, in repeated public filings, the group has described Vinod Adani as an intrinsic part of the Adani group. For instance, this memorandum filed with the Bombay Stock Exchange in 2020 for a Rs400 crore debt private placement clearly states:
 
"Adani Group means SB Adani Family Trust, Adani Properties Pvt Ltd, Adani Tradeline LLP, Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani, Vinod S Adani and all companies and entities controlled directly or indirectly by SB Adani Family Trust or Adani Properties Pvt Ltd or Adani Tradeline LLP or Gautam Adani or Rajesh Adani or Vinod S Adani, separately or collectively."
 
Why is your close friend lying so blatantly to investors and to the public? Are the various investigative agencies that you have freely deployed against political parties, media and non-subservient businesspersons ever going to be used to investigate your cronies even when they are caught red-handed?
 
2. On 16 September 2022, the Adani group announced that "the Adani Family, through Endeavour Trade and Investment Ltd, a special purpose vehicle, has successfully completed the acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd." The acquisition catapulted Adani to the rank of India's second-largest cement producer. The acquirer's SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) filing stated in no uncertain terms that "the ultimate beneficial ownership of the Acquirer is held by Vinod Shantilal Adani and Ranjanben Vinod Adani." Is it not a laughable falsehood for the Adani group to now distance itself from Vinod Adani?
 
3. An Australian investigation has shown that Vinod Adani's Pinnacle Trade and Investment, based in Singapore, controls a number of Adani group assets in Australia. In 2020, Pinnacle entered into a US$240mn (million) loan agreement with Russia's now-sanctioned VTB Bank and then went on to lend US$235 million to a related party, likely connected to the Adani group, according to Forbes magazine. Does this not clearly show that Vinod Adani is at the centre of financial flows that leverage one group of Adani assets to send loans to another, as alleged by Hindenburg? Is this not worthy of investigation by SEBI and the enforcement directorate (ED)?
 
Read about the previous questions here… 
 
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