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India’s capital markets regulator has cleared the Adani Group of fraud allegations against the infrastructure conglomerate that were included in a report by a US short seller more than two years ago.
Gautam Adani’s eponymous and influential group, which is deeply embedded in India’s infrastructure drive, said two rulings announced on Thursday by the Securities and Exchange Board of India were a “resounding victory” and a “major relief”.
The group said in a statement the Sebi notices gave it a “clean chit” after now-defunct Hindenburg Research first published damaging market manipulation allegations against it in January 2023. The allegations at one point wiped as much as $150bn off the conglomerate’s combined market value.
Sebi said it had concluded that fraud accusations by Hindenburg concerning related-party transactions by Adani were “not established”. The short seller had said that funds were improperly channelled into multiple Adani companies.
The regulator said there had been “no violation” by the Adani Group, which has extensive operations across ports, coal, media and airports.
Sebi accused Hindenburg last year of indulging in “unfair trade practices” and said its report had “deliberately sensationalised and distorted certain facts”. Hindenburg said then that the regulator’s allegations were “an attempt to silence and intimidate those who expose corruption and fraud perpetrated by the most powerful individuals in India”.
In a post on social media platform X on Thursday, Gautam Adani, who is Asia’s second-richest man, hailed the regulator’s “exhaustive investigation”, saying it “reaffirmed what we have always maintained, that the Hindenburg claims were baseless”.
“Transparency and integrity have always defined the Adani Group . . . we deeply feel the pain of the investors who lost money because of this fraudulent and motivated report,” he wrote. “Those who spread false narratives owe the nation an apology.”
The Hindenburg report was at the time a major threat to Adani and forced the group to halt some of its expansion plans.
It also became a political issue, with India’s opposition parties using it to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom many perceive to be close to Gautam Adani.
The prime minister and billionaire rose together in political and corporate stature in their home state of Gujarat, but Adani has repeatedly denied any improper beneficial relationship. His conglomerate says proudly that it supports the development aims of Modi’s government.
Sebi sent notices last year to seven listed Adani companies, including its ports business and its renewable energy arm, alleging potential regulatory violations over disclosure rules on some related-party transactions. In August 2024, Sebi said it had completed 23 or 24 investigations into the Adani Group.
The regulator did not say on Thursday if its new rulings were its final word on Hindenburg-related probes. The short seller accused the Adani Group of extensive wrongdoing including tax fraud and of having “virtually non-existent financial controls”, allegations the conglomerate strongly denied. Sebi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In May, Gautam Adani’s nephew Pranav Adani, who sits on the board of a number of the conglomerate’s business units, said he was looking to settle insider trading allegations brought against him by Sebi that are related to the group’s acquisition of a renewable power producer. Pranav Adani has denied any wrongdoing.
Gautam Adani still faces criminal charges in the US, where the justice department and Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in November last year that he and seven others engaged in a bribery scheme related to a solar power project in India.
The billionaire has repeatedly denied the charges. After US President Donald Trump earlier this year halted enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the FT reported that some within the Adani Group were expecting the cases against their chair to eventually collapse.
Little public progress has so far been made on the US cases. The SEC said last month that India’s government had yet to assist the regulator in serving summons to Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani for its civil suit.
Hindenburg founder Nathan Anderson announced in January that he was closing the firm, saying his work at it had been “rather intense, and at times, all-encompassing”.
