Add Category
The crisis engulfing the Adani Group has intensified as hundreds of members of India's opposition parties took to the streets to press for a probe into allegations against the conglomerate.
Key points:
- Adani Group has lost $159 billion since its business practices were called into question last month
- India's opposition has questioned Gautam Adani's relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Hundreds of opposition party members protested across the country
Shares in billionaire Gautam Adani's companies have been in freefall since the release of a critical January 24 report by Hindenberg Research, with the group's cumulative market losses now topping $US110 billion ($159 billion), sparking fears of wider financial contagion.
Opposition parties, who last week called for a parliamentary panel to investigate the saga, have questioned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's closeness with Mr Adani.
Protesters on Monday also expressed anger about investments made by state-backed Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and State Bank of India (SBI) in the Adani Group.
Mr Adani has rejected the Hindenberg report's allegations of stock manipulation, use of tax havens and criticism that it had unsustainable debt.
The billionaire and Mr Modi are from the same state and Mr Adani has repeatedly denied allegations by Mr Modi's opponents that he has benefited from their close ties.
Mr Modi's government also denied allegations of favouring Mr Adani.
Protesters take to the streets
At New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, a Mughal-era observatory that doubles up as a protest site for all causes, protesters held up banners and shouted slogans against Adani.
Some broke through barricades, forcing the police to detain them.
"Common man has invested his money in a businessman's company and the government is trying to save him," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Shiv Panday told ANI news agency.
"The government is supporting the businessman and not the common man."
Hundreds of members of the Congress party protested across the country, including outside several offices of state-owned LIC and SBI.
Separately, a move by Adani Group on Monday to calm investor nerves failed to stem the market rout.
It said it would pre-pay loans of around $US1.1 billion ($1.59 billion) taken against pledged stocks in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Transmission and Adani Green Energy, allowing it to get back the shares.
Shares of Adani Enterprises closed down 0.9 per cent on Monday after sinking as much as 9.6 per cent in early trade.
Adani Transmission lost 10 per cent, while Adani Green, Adani Total Gas Ltd, Adani Power, and Adani Wilmar fell 5 per cent each.
Adani Ports rose 9.3 per cent, the only Adani-linked stock to buck the trend.
Reuters