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Corporate Case Study | June 10, 2026
In 1988, Gautam Adani founded a commodity trading company in Ahmedabad with limited capital and no engineering background. By 2022, he was briefly the third-richest person in the world. By early 2023, a single short-seller report wiped approximately Rs 12.4 lakh crore from the group’s combined market capitalisation in under two weeks. By FY2025, the group had posted its highest-ever EBITDA of Rs 89,806 crore, cleared most of its regulatory investigations, and was deploying Rs 1.26 lakh crore in a single year’s capital expenditure. The Adani Group story is a study in how infrastructure scale, political economy, and capital market dynamics interact in a liberalising India. This article traces that journey neutrally, from trading firm to conglomerate, and from crisis to recovery.
Table of Contents
- Part I: The Founding and the First Pivot (1988 to 2001) Diamond trading, Adani Exports, Mundra Port, and the infrastructure model
- Part II: The Expansion Decades (2002 to 2019) Power, renewables, airports, cement, and the incubation model
- Part III: The Seven Business Segments Explained What each listed entity does, its revenue, and its role in the group
- Part IV: The Financial Picture in FY2025 Rs 89,806 crore EBITDA, Rs 2.36 lakh crore net debt, and the leverage story
- Part V: The Hindenburg Report and Its Aftermath The January 2023 allegations, the Rs 12.4 lakh crore market cap wipeout, and the regulatory and judicial response
- Part VI: The Recovery and Current Position (2023 to 2026) GQG investment, SEBI conclusion, stock price recovery, and $100 billion capex plan
- Frequently Asked Questions
Rs 89,806 cr
Portfolio EBITDA in FY2025, more than tripling in six years from Rs 24,870 crore in FY2019, at a 24% CAGR.
19.3 GW
Adani Green Energy’s operational renewable capacity as of April 2026, after adding 5 GW in FY2026 alone, the highest greenfield addition globally outside China.
Rs 12.4L cr
Market capitalisation wiped from Adani group stocks between January 24 and February 27, 2023, following the Hindenburg Research report.
27%
Share of India’s total cargo volume handled by Adani Ports and SEZ in FY2025, across 15 domestic ports and terminals, including India’s largest commercial port at Mundra.
Part IThe Founding and the First Pivot (1988 to 2001)
From Diamond Trader to Commodity Exporter
Gautam Shantilal Adani was born on June 24, 1962, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, into a textile merchant family. He left college without completing his degree and moved to Mumbai, where he found work as a diamond sorter. Within a few years, he was running a small diamond brokerage, accumulating both capital and contacts. He returned to Ahmedabad in the mid-1980s to help his elder brother run a plastics business, a stint that led him into the import of polymers and raw materials. That supply chain exposure gave him the idea for a broader commodity trading operation.
On July 20, 1988, Adani founded Adani Exports Limited, the entity that would later become Adani Enterprises. The business initially focused on agricultural commodities and polymers. India’s 1991 economic liberalisation proved pivotal: the removal of import and export licensing requirements opened large trading opportunities across metals, textiles, and agricultural goods. Adani Exports scaled aggressively through the early 1990s. In November 1994, the company listed on the BSE and NSE at Rs 150 per share, with the IPO oversubscribed 25 times, a signal of the appetite for private commercial enterprise in post-liberalisation India.
Why the 1994 IPO mattered structurally: The Adani Exports IPO was not primarily about raising capital. It was about establishing a public track record and a balance sheet that could support the infrastructure ambitions Gautam Adani had already begun planning. Most of India’s large private infrastructure projects in the 1990s required domestic bank credit, and listed companies had an easier time accessing that credit than private firms. The IPO set a precedent that the Adani Group would use repeatedly over the next three decades: list the incubated business, establish institutional credibility, attract bank and capital market funding, deploy into infrastructure, and repeat. Adani Enterprises today still functions as the group’s incubator in exactly this way.
The Mundra Port Concession and the Infrastructure Pivot
The most consequential decision in the Adani Group’s history came in 1994 when the Gujarat government invited private companies to develop a captive jetty at Mundra on the northern coast of the Gulf of Kutch. Adani secured the contract. The location was strategically important: Mundra offered natural deep-water access that allowed large vessels to berth without expensive dredging, a feature that Indian ports built on shallow coastlines often lacked.
Gujarat Adani Port Limited was incorporated on May 26, 1998. The first vessel, the MT Alpha 2 carrying edible oil, docked at Mundra on October 7, 1998. What began as a single berth captive jetty for Adani’s own commodity trading operations became, over the following two decades, India’s largest commercial port. The group invested progressively in berths, container terminals, rail connectivity, and a Special Economic Zone, transforming a largely undeveloped stretch of Gujarat coastline into a multi-cargo logistics hub that now handles 450 million metric tonnes of cargo per year across the APSEZ portfolio.
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Jul 20, 1988Adani Exports Limited founded in Ahmedabad
Gautam Adani incorporates the company as a commodity trading firm. Initial focus on agricultural goods, polymers, and textiles.
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Nov 1994Adani Exports lists on BSE and NSE at Rs 150 per share
IPO oversubscribed 25 times. Adani secures the Mundra jetty concession from the Gujarat government the same year.
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May 26, 1998Gujarat Adani Port Limited incorporated
The entity that becomes Adani Ports and SEZ is formed. First vessel docks at Mundra on October 7, 1998.
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2006Adani enters power generation
Adani Power is established. Construction begins on Mundra Thermal Power Plant in Gujarat, using supercritical technology for the first time in India.
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Aug 2009Adani Power lists on BSE and NSE
IPO raises Rs 3,016 crore. Adani Power becomes India’s first private utility to deploy supercritical boiler technology at scale.
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2015Adani Green Energy established
Adani Green is incorporated to house the group’s solar and wind energy assets. India’s National Solar Mission creates large government-backed tender pipelines that the group targets from the start.
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2019Six airports won in government’s first privatisation round
Adani Airport Holdings wins operating concessions for Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur airports.
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2022Ambuja Cements and ACC acquired for Rs 54,000 crore
The acquisitions make the Adani Group India’s second-largest cement producer overnight. Holcim exits India after selling both companies.
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Jan 24, 2023Hindenburg Research report published
The US-based short-seller publishes a 106-page report alleging stock manipulation and accounting fraud. Rs 12.4 lakh crore is wiped from group stocks in the following weeks.
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Mar 2023GQG Partners invests approximately $1.87 billion
The Florida-based investment firm buys promoter shares across four Adani group companies at depressed prices, providing a significant sentiment stabiliser for the group.
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Jan 3, 2024Supreme Court declines SIT probe, affirms SEBI’s jurisdiction
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud dismisses petitions seeking transfer of the investigation to the CBI or a Special Investigation Team.
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Apr 1, 2026Adani Green Energy adds 5 GW in FY2026
Total operational renewable capacity reaches 19.3 GW. The 5 GW annual addition is the highest greenfield expansion by any company globally outside China.
Part IIThe Expansion Decades (2002 to 2019)
The Incubation Model and Its Logic
The Adani Group’s expansion was not a diversification in the conventional conglomerate sense. The group did not acquire unrelated consumer businesses or financial services companies. Every new sector it entered was either upstream or downstream of the logistics and energy chain: coal trading required ports to import through, so Mundra Port was built. Ports required power, so thermal power plants were built next to ports. Power generation required coal, so coal mining operations were established. Renewable energy required transmission infrastructure, so Adani Energy Solutions (transmission) was built. The chain of vertical integration is consistent across every decade of expansion.
Adani Enterprises served as the incubator at each stage. A new business would be established under Adani Enterprises, developed to operating maturity, and then spun off as a separately listed entity. Adani Ports, Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Energy Solutions all followed this path. By the time each entity was listed, it had an operating asset base, a revenue history, and institutional credibility, making its IPO easier to price and more attractive to institutional investors than a pure greenfield listing would have been.
The infrastructure funding model that enabled rapid scale: Large infrastructure projects in India are typically financed through a combination of equity (typically 20 to 30 per cent of project cost) and long-term bank debt (70 to 80 per cent). The Adani Group’s strategy of listing each subsidiary created multiple equity pools that could raise public capital independently. A strong listed entity like Adani Ports could raise equity or bonds on its own strength, without relying on the consolidated group balance sheet. This structure also ring-fenced financial stress in one entity from spreading immediately to others, a feature that proved important during the volatility of early 2023.
Power and Renewables: Riding India’s Demand Curve
Adani entered power generation in 2006, constructing the Mundra Thermal Power Plant in Gujarat using supercritical boiler technology, which was then new to India. When Adani Power listed in August 2009, it became the first private utility in the country to operate supercritical units at scale. By end-2025, Adani Power had 18,150 MW of installed thermal power capacity across twelve plants and was India’s largest private thermal power producer, accounting for approximately 7.3% of India’s domestic coal-based generation capacity. The company has since announced a plan to reach 41.87 GW by FY2032, backed by Rs 2 lakh crore in capital expenditure.
Adani Green Energy was incorporated in 2015 to consolidate the group’s solar and wind assets. The timing aligned with a sharp fall in solar module prices globally and India’s National Solar Mission, which created large government-backed power purchase agreements for renewable developers. Adani Green won the world’s largest solar award at the time in 2020 from the Solar Energy Corporation of India for 8 GW of solar capacity linked to 2 GW of domestic manufacturing. Its operational capacity has grown from approximately 3.5 GW at end-2020 to 19.3 GW as of April 2026, making it one of the top ten renewable energy independent power producers globally.
Airports, Cement, Ports, and the 2020s Acquisition Phase
Between 2019 and 2022, the Adani Group executed a series of acquisitions that substantially widened its sectoral footprint. In 2019, the group won concessions to operate six airports under the government’s first airport privatisation round, covering Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur. In 2021, it acquired controlling interest in Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Adani Airport Holdings now manages eight airports and accounts for approximately 25% of India’s total passenger throughput and 33% of air cargo traffic.
In 2022, the group made its most expensive single acquisition to date: buying Ambuja Cements and ACC from Swiss conglomerate Holcim for approximately $10.5 billion (approximately Rs 81,000 crore including open offers to minority shareholders). The transaction instantly made Adani the second-largest cement producer in India, with combined installed capacity of over 70 million tonnes per annum. The same year, the group acquired a majority stake in NDTV, entering the media sector for the first time.
Part IIIThe Seven Business Segments Explained
The Adani Group operates through seven principal listed entities. Each runs a distinct business with its own balance sheet, credit rating, and investor base. The tabs below present a summary of each entity’s role, scale, and operational profile.
Adani Ports and SEZ (APSEZ)
450 MMTTotal cargo handled in FY2025
27%Share of India’s total cargo volume
Rs 11,061 crProfit after tax in FY2025 (up 37% YoY)
APSEZ is India’s largest private port operator, running 15 domestic ports and terminals and operating internationally at Haifa Port in Israel and the North Queensland Export Terminal in Australia. Mundra Port, its flagship, is India’s largest commercial port, handling containers, dry bulk, crude, LPG, and project cargo across 24 berths. APSEZ holds a 45.5% share of India’s container market. The group’s rail subsidiary, Adani Logistics, moves approximately 80 rakes per day and connects the port network to inland container depots.
The port business provides the group with a structurally recurring revenue base: every tonne of cargo that enters or exits India through an Adani terminal generates handling fees regardless of commodity prices. This makes APSEZ the most financially stable entity in the group portfolio and a key collateral base for group-level borrowing.
Adani Power
18,150 MWInstalled thermal capacity (end-2025)
7.3%Share of India’s coal-based generation
41.87 GWCapacity target by FY2032
Adani Power is India’s largest private thermal power producer. Its twelve plants are spread across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu. Power is sold under a mix of long-term power purchase agreements with state utilities and on the merchant market. In Q4 FY2026, the company’s EBITDA grew 27% year-on-year to Rs 6,498 crore.
The company has an ambitious expansion pipeline. In 2025 alone, it won capacity tenders from Uttar Pradesh (1,600 MW), Bihar (2,400 MW), Madhya Pradesh (1,600 MW), and Assam (3,200 MW), and has announced a Rs 2 lakh crore capex plan to reach 41.87 GW by FY2032. This would make it by a significant margin the largest private thermal fleet in Indian history.
Adani Green Energy (AGEL)
19.3 GWOperational capacity (April 2026)
5 GWAdded in FY2026 (global greenfield record ex-China)
#1Energy Intelligence Green Utilities Ranking 2025
AGEL is India’s largest pure-play renewable energy company and one of the ten largest globally. Its portfolio includes solar (approximately 11 GW), wind (approximately 2 GW), and wind-solar hybrid (approximately 3 GW) capacity. The Khavda Renewable Energy Park in Gujarat is the world’s single largest renewable energy plant under development, with over 5 GW already commissioned at the site.
AGEL added 5,051 MW in FY2026, the highest greenfield annual capacity addition globally by any company outside China. Its target of 50 GW by 2030 remains ambitious but is underpinned by signed power purchase agreements, land possession, and a proven construction cadence. The company was ranked first globally in Energy Intelligence’s Green Utilities Rankings for 2025, rising from third position in 2024.
Adani Enterprises (AEL)
Rs 1,00,469 crRevenue in FY2025
Rs 16,722 crConsolidated EBITDA in FY2025 (up 26% YoY)
8 AirportsManaged via AAHL, 25% of India’s passenger traffic
Adani Enterprises is the group’s flagship and incubator, listed on BSE and NSE since 1994. Its operating businesses include airports (via Adani Airport Holdings Limited), coal trading and mining services, road construction, solar module manufacturing (Adani Solar), data centres (via AdaniConnex with EdgeConnex), copper smelting, and the new Navi Mumbai International Airport project currently under construction.
AEL also holds interests in NDTV, India’s major news network, acquired through a series of open-market and preferential transactions in 2022 and 2023. The airports business handles approximately 25% of India’s passenger footfalls and 33% of air cargo traffic. AEL’s incubation model means it constantly holds early-stage businesses that will be spun off once they reach operating maturity, making its consolidated financials harder to interpret than those of a conventional company.
Adani Energy Solutions (AESL)
Rs 25,000 crBhadla-Fatehpur HVDC project, largest ever order win
Rs 713 crNet profit in Q4 FY2025 (up 87% YoY)
Smart MeteringLargest smart metering concession in India
Formerly Adani Transmission, AESL operates India’s largest private electricity transmission network. It develops, owns, and operates transmission lines and substations under long-term transmission service agreements, and holds the country’s largest smart metering concession. Its revenue is largely regulated and contractual, making it one of the lower-risk entities in the group portfolio.
In FY2025, AESL won the Rs 25,000 crore Bhadla-Fatehpur HVDC project, the largest single order in its history. This high-voltage direct current link will carry power from Rajasthan’s solar parks to northern India’s grid and is central to India’s renewable integration infrastructure plan.
Adani Total Gas (ATGL)
JV50:50 with TotalEnergies of France
Rs 168 crNet profit in Q4 FY2024
CNG + PNGCity gas distribution across authorised geographic areas
Adani Total Gas is a 50:50 joint venture between Adani Enterprises and TotalEnergies of France. It operates city gas distribution networks, supplying compressed natural gas to vehicles and piped natural gas to households and industrial customers across its authorised geographic areas. The business operates under licences from India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board.
City gas distribution in India is a regulated but growing segment, supported by India’s push to increase natural gas’s share in the primary energy mix from approximately 6% currently to 15% by 2030. ATGL’s authorised geographic areas cover a large and growing population base, and the business benefits from both regulatory protection in its service areas and a recurring volume-based revenue model.
Ambuja Cements and ACC (Cement)
70+ MTPACombined installed cement capacity
$10.5bnTotal acquisition cost from Holcim in 2022 including open offers
#2India’s second-largest cement producer after UltraTech
Ambuja Cements and ACC were both heritage brands in Indian cement before Holcim, the Swiss building materials giant, sold both to the Adani Group in 2022. The acquisition was the largest in the Indian cement sector’s history. Adani holds its stake in ACC through Ambuja Cements, which owns approximately 50% of ACC. Both companies remain separately listed on Indian exchanges.
Since the acquisition, Adani has announced capacity expansion plans for both entities, targeting 140 MTPA of combined cement capacity by 2028. The group’s ownership of limestone mines, captive power plants, and port connectivity gives it cost advantages that it is actively leveraging to improve margins at both companies.
Part IVThe Financial Picture in FY2025
EBITDA: Six Years of Compounding
The Adani Group’s consolidated EBITDA across its portfolio of listed entities reached Rs 89,806 crore in FY2025, up 8.2% from Rs 82,976 crore in FY2024 and more than tripling from Rs 24,870 crore in FY2019. The six-year compounded annual growth rate of 24% places the group among the fastest-growing large infrastructure conglomerates in any emerging market over that period. Profit after tax for FY2025 was Rs 40,565 crore, with a six-year CAGR of 48.5%.
Portfolio EBITDA Growth (FY2019 to FY2025)
All figures in Rs crore. Source: Adani Group FY2025 Results Compendium (May 22, 2025).
Debt, Leverage, and the Deleveraging Story
The group’s gross debt stood at Rs 2.9 lakh crore at end-FY2025, up from Rs 2.41 lakh crore in FY2024, driven by the record Rs 1.26 lakh crore capital expenditure in the year. After accounting for a cash balance of Rs 53,843 crore, the net debt position was Rs 2.36 lakh crore. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio stood at 2.6 times as of March 2025, down from 3.8 times in FY2019. This improvement reflects both earnings growth and a deliberate effort to lengthen debt maturity and reduce cost.
The average cost of borrowing fell below 8% for the first time in FY2025, at 7.9%, compared with 10.3% in FY2019. Approximately 90% of the group’s EBITDA now comes from assets carrying domestic credit ratings of AA or above. Indian banks account for 50% of total group debt. The cash balance of Rs 53,843 crore covers 21 months of debt servicing requirements, above the group’s stated minimum policy of 12 months and one day.
Net Debt-to-EBITDA and Cost of Debt (FY2019 to FY2025)
Net Debt/EBITDA ratio (left axis) and average cost of debt in % (right axis). Source: Adani Group FY2025 Results Compendium.
Capital Expenditure and the $100 Billion Plan
FY2025 saw the highest capex in the group’s history at Rs 1.26 lakh crore (approximately $14.7 billion). The group has announced plans to invest $100 billion over the next six years, with the majority directed at renewable energy, green hydrogen, transmission infrastructure, a new copper smelter, port capacity expansion, and airport development including the Navi Mumbai International Airport. This level of capital deployment requires sustained access to domestic and international capital markets, making the group’s credit ratings and investor relations profile strategically important.
Return on assets as a measure of capital efficiency: The Adani Group reported return on assets of 16.5% in FY2025, which it described as among the highest for any infrastructure business globally. For context, large global infrastructure conglomerates in developed markets typically operate at ROAs of 5% to 9%, reflecting the lower-return but lower-risk nature of regulated assets in mature economies. The higher ROA at Adani reflects both India’s higher nominal economic growth rates and the group’s concentration in assets with long-term government-backed offtake agreements, which combine assured revenue with moderate capital cost in an emerging market setting.
Part VThe Hindenburg Report and Its Aftermath
The Hindenburg episode represents the most significant external shock in the Adani Group’s history. The sequence of events below presents each phase factually, including the positions of all parties involved, without accepting or rejecting the underlying claims.
Phase 1: The Report and Its Immediate Impact Jan 24, 2023
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On January 24, 2023, Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-selling and forensic research firm, published a 106-page report titled “Adani Group: How the World’s 3rd Richest Man Is Pulling the Largest Con in Corporate History.” The report followed a claimed two-year investigation and alleged that the Adani Group had engaged in “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud over the course of decades.”
The core allegations were: use of a network of offshore shell entities in tax-haven jurisdictions including Mauritius, UAE, and Caribbean islands, allegedly used to inflate the group’s public shareholding and artificially maintain stock prices above minimum public shareholding norms; accounting irregularities including aggressive revenue recognition; and excessive leverage creating “precarious financial footing.” Hindenburg disclosed it held short positions in Adani Group companies through US-traded bonds and non-Indian derivative instruments, meaning it stood to profit if the stocks fell.
The report came precisely as the Adani Group was in the middle of a Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offering by Adani Enterprises. The FPO was fully subscribed on January 31 but was cancelled by Adani on February 1, with the group stating it chose to return investor money given the market volatility. Between January 24 and February 27, 2023, the combined market capitalisation of Adani group stocks fell approximately 65%, from Rs 19.2 lakh crore to below Rs 7 lakh crore, a wipeout of approximately Rs 12.4 lakh crore.
Phase 2: Adani’s Response Jan–Feb 2023
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Adani Group responded within 24 hours with an initial statement calling the report “a malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India’s highest courts.” Within days, the group published a 413-page formal rebuttal addressing, in its view, each allegation raised in the report.
On the specific allegation of offshore shell companies and stock parking, Adani argued that all beneficial ownership disclosures had been made in compliance with SEBI requirements and that the offshore entities Hindenburg identified had no undisclosed connection to Adani promoters. On the allegation of accounting fraud, Adani said all financial statements were prepared in accordance with Indian Accounting Standards and audited by reputable firms. On leverage concerns, Adani pointed to its asset base and long-term contracted cash flows as support for its debt levels. Hindenburg subsequently published a counter-response calling Adani’s rebuttal a “non-answer” that left the core offshore entity questions unaddressed.
Phase 3: The Supreme Court and SEBI Investigation Mar 2023 – Jan 2024
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In March 2023, the Supreme Court took cognisance of the matter and constituted a six-member expert committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice A.M. Sapre. Other members included former RBI governor K.V. Kamath, former SBI chairman O.P. Bhatt, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, securities lawyer Somasekhar Sundaresan, and retired High Court judge J.P. Devdhar. The court also directed SEBI to complete its own investigation under the relevant securities regulations.
The expert committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court in May 2023. Its conclusions were that there was no prima facie visible evidence of stock price manipulation by the Adani Group, that SEBI had not committed regulatory failure in the period covered, and that Adani had disclosed beneficial ownership information in compliance with existing norms. The committee also found that the group had taken steps to reassure retail investors during the post-report volatility.
SEBI conducted its own parallel investigation into 24 transactions and matters identified from the Hindenburg report. By August 2023, SEBI had completed 22 of the 24 investigations. On January 3, 2024, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud dismissed petitions seeking transfer of the investigation to a Special Investigation Team or the CBI. The court held that reports from entities like Hindenburg Research cannot be treated as conclusive proof, and that SEBI had the institutional capability and mandate to complete the remaining probes.
Phase 4: SEBI Show-Cause Notices and the Second Hindenburg Report May–Aug 2024
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In May 2024, seven of the ten listed Adani companies disclosed that SEBI had issued show-cause notices to them for alleged non-compliance with related party transaction disclosure requirements and listing agreement provisions. All seven companies stated in their disclosures that the allegations were “not materially consequential” and did not require adjustments to their financial statements. SEBI had also separately found that twelve offshore funds investing in Adani group entities had breached disclosure regulations and exceeded investment limits.
In August 2024, Hindenburg published a second report, this time targeting SEBI itself rather than the Adani Group directly. The report alleged that then-SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband had held stakes in offshore funds that were also used by associates of Vinod Adani, Gautam Adani’s elder brother. SEBI Chairperson Buch denied the allegations as “baseless.” The second report created a new controversy but did not result in any formal proceedings against Buch. SEBI’s conclusion of its core Adani investigations was separately described by the regulator as finding the Hindenburg market manipulation allegations “unsubstantiated” and “not established.”
Phase 5: Where Things Stand as of June 2026 Current
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As of June 2026, SEBI has concluded 22 of the original 24 investigations. The two remaining investigations, related to minimum public shareholding compliance involving 12 foreign portfolio investors, are at an interim stage pending information from overseas regulators. SEBI has not publicly disclosed the outcome of any individual completed investigation in full detail, though it has confirmed that market manipulation allegations were not established.
The show-cause notices issued to seven group companies in May 2024 for related party transaction disclosure violations remain pending resolution. These are civil regulatory proceedings, not criminal proceedings, and typically result in fines or directions for enhanced disclosure rather than disqualification or criminal sanction if violations are found. The Adani Group has not acknowledged any material violation in its public disclosures related to these notices. Hindenburg Research announced the closure of its firm in January 2025, citing the personal toll of the work, but the questions it raised about offshore shareholding structures remain a subject of periodic scrutiny from independent researchers and domestic institutional investors.
Adani Group Combined Market Cap: The Collapse and Recovery (2022 to 2026)
Approximate combined market capitalisation of listed Adani group entities at key dates, in Rs lakh crore. Sources: Group regulatory disclosures and stock exchange data.
Part VIThe Recovery and Current Position (2023 to 2026)
The GQG Investment as a Turning Point
The most significant single event in the group’s recovery from the Hindenburg shock was the investment by GQG Partners, a Florida-based investment firm managed by Rajiv Jain, in March 2023. GQG acquired promoter shares in four Adani group companies, namely Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Total Gas, for approximately $1.87 billion (approximately Rs 15,446 crore) at prices significantly below pre-Hindenburg levels. The investment was notable because GQG Partners is a reputable institutional investor with a publicly traceable track record, and its willingness to buy at scale into a group that was under active regulatory scrutiny was read by markets as a credibility signal.
Following the GQG investment, group stocks began recovering. By January 2024, when the Supreme Court issued its ruling, the group had recouped a substantial portion of its lost market capitalisation. By end-2025, multiple group stocks had reached new all-time highs, with Adani Power surpassing Infosys in market capitalisation in May 2026. The portfolio’s combined value had recovered to levels broadly comparable to pre-Hindenburg positions.
Operational Recovery: FY2025 in Numbers
Key FY2025 Operational Metrics Across Group Entities
Selected operating highlights from group company annual results for FY2024-25.
Across its listed entities, the group posted results in FY2025 that surpassed pre-crisis operational metrics. APSEZ handled 450 MMT of cargo, up 7% year-on-year, and recorded a PAT of Rs 11,061 crore, up 37%. Adani Green Energy commissioned its highest-ever annual capacity addition of approximately 3.3 GW in FY2025 and reached 15 GW of total installed capacity by end of the financial year. Adani Power’s Q4 FY2026 EBITDA grew 27% year-on-year. The group’s total return on assets of 16.5% in FY2025 was described by management as the highest in its history.
The $100 billion capex commitment and what it signals: In May 2025, the Adani Group announced plans to invest $100 billion over the next six years across renewable energy, transmission, ports, green hydrogen, copper smelting, and digital infrastructure. This is not a greenfield announcement from a standing start: by FY2025, the group was already deploying Rs 1.26 lakh crore (approximately $14.7 billion) in a single year. The $100 billion plan implies sustaining or increasing that capex rate for six consecutive years. Its delivery depends on continued access to domestic bank debt, international capital markets, and equity capital from both promoters and public investors. The plan is also contingent on policy continuity in the renewable energy, ports, and airport sectors, where most of the targeted investment will be directed.
| Entity | Core Business | FY2025 Key Metric | Market Cap (Jun 2026, approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adani Enterprises | Incubator: airports, mining, solar mfg, data centres | Revenue Rs 1,00,469 cr; EBITDA Rs 16,722 cr (up 26%) | ~Rs 3.87 lakh crore |
| Adani Ports and SEZ | Port operations, logistics, SEZs | Cargo 450 MMT; PAT Rs 11,061 cr (up 37%) | Market data current |
| Adani Green Energy | Solar, wind, hybrid renewable power | Capacity 19.3 GW (April 2026); added 5 GW in FY2026 | ~Rs 2.52 lakh crore |
| Adani Power | Thermal power generation | Capacity 18,150 MW; Q4 FY2026 EBITDA up 27% YoY | ~Rs 4.36 lakh crore |
| Adani Energy Solutions | Power transmission, smart metering | Q4 FY2025 PAT Rs 713 cr (up 87%); Rs 25,000 cr HVDC order | Market data current |
| Adani Total Gas | City gas distribution (JV with TotalEnergies) | CNG and PNG distribution; regulated offtake model | Market data current |
| Ambuja Cements / ACC | Cement manufacturing and distribution | Combined capacity 70+ MTPA; target 140 MTPA by 2028 | Acquired from Holcim in Sep 2022 for ~$10.5bn (incl. open offers) |
What the Adani Story Tells Us About India’s Infrastructure Economy
The Adani Group’s trajectory from a commodity trading firm in 1988 to India’s second-largest conglomerate by the 2020s is inseparable from the structure of India’s economic development. India’s infrastructure gap across ports, power, airports, and transmission was large and persistent enough that a company willing to take long-duration, capital-intensive bets on government-backed infrastructure could grow at compounding rates for three decades. The group identified that gap early and filled it with scale, speed, and a consistent financing model that used listed subsidiaries to raise public capital.
The Hindenburg episode tested that model against the standards of international capital market scrutiny. The regulatory and judicial outcomes were not a full vindication of either side. The Supreme Court and SEBI’s expert committee found no visible evidence of stock manipulation. SEBI simultaneously issued show-cause notices for related party disclosure violations and found that offshore funds had breached investment limits. The picture that emerges is of a group that operated at the extreme edge of regulatory tolerance in its high-growth years, in ways that were not necessarily unlawful but that created legitimate questions about disclosure quality and related-party governance. Those questions have not been fully answered in the public domain.
What is not in dispute is the operational reality: India’s largest commercial port, India’s largest private thermal power fleet, India’s largest renewable energy portfolio, and a material share of the country’s airport and transmission infrastructure are all Adani assets. They exist, they generate cash, and India’s infrastructure targets for 2030 depend significantly on their continued development. For anyone studying Indian corporate finance, economic policy, or capital market regulation, the Adani story is a reference case that is unlikely to be closed for many years.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Adani Group operates through seven principal listed entities: Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Green Energy, Adani Power, Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Total Gas, and Ambuja Cements (which controls ACC). Its operational footprint includes India’s largest commercial port (Mundra), India’s largest private thermal power fleet (18,150 MW), India’s largest renewable energy portfolio (19.3 GW as of April 2026), eight airports handling 25% of India’s passenger traffic, a national electricity transmission network, city gas distribution across authorised geographic areas, and cement manufacturing capacity of over 70 million tonnes per annum.
The portfolio’s combined EBITDA in FY2025 was Rs 89,806 crore (approximately $10.5 billion). Total gross assets reached Rs 6.1 lakh crore ($71.2 billion) by end-FY2025. The group paid Rs 74,945 crore to the Indian exchequer in FY2025 across direct and indirect taxes and social contributions.
Hindenburg Research’s January 24, 2023 report alleged three broad categories of misconduct: use of offshore shell entities in tax havens to artificially maintain public shareholding levels and potentially manipulate stock prices; accounting irregularities in how group companies recognised revenue and reported related party transactions; and excessive leverage creating financial fragility. Hindenburg held short positions in Adani group companies and stood to profit from falling stock prices.
The Adani Group denied all allegations in a 413-page rebuttal. The Supreme Court’s expert committee, in its May 2023 report, found no prima facie visible evidence of stock manipulation and no regulatory failure by SEBI. The Supreme Court in January 2024 upheld SEBI’s jurisdiction and dismissed petitions seeking an SIT or CBI probe. SEBI concluded 22 of 24 investigations, found market manipulation allegations “unsubstantiated,” but separately issued show-cause notices to seven group entities for related party disclosure violations. Two investigations involving offshore FPI shareholding remained at interim stage as of the latest available information. Hindenburg itself shut down its operations in January 2025.
The recovery was driven by four factors. First, in March 2023, GQG Partners invested approximately $1.87 billion by acquiring promoter shares across four group companies, providing a credibility signal from a reputable institutional investor. Second, the Supreme Court’s series of rulings, culminating in January 2024, refused to transfer the investigation away from SEBI and found no basis for escalation to criminal investigation agencies. Third, the group’s underlying operational performance remained strong through the period, with ports, renewables, and power businesses continuing to generate cash. Fourth, the group undertook deliberate deleveraging actions including partial asset monetisation and improved disclosure standards, which helped restore credit market confidence. By 2025, multiple group stocks had recovered to or beyond pre-crisis levels, and the combined portfolio EBITDA reached an all-time high.
The incubation model refers to Adani Enterprises’ practice of developing new businesses from scratch, growing them to operational maturity, and then spinning them off as independently listed entities. Adani Ports, Adani Power, Adani Green Energy, Adani Energy Solutions, and Adani Total Gas all emerged from this process. For investors, this model means that Adani Enterprises’ consolidated financials always include early-stage businesses with different risk profiles from the mature, cash-generating entities. The model also means that a new business can raise capital through its own equity and debt once listed, without drawing on the flagship entity’s balance sheet.
The model creates complexity in assessing consolidated group risk. An investor in Adani Enterprises is simultaneously exposed to the mature airports business, early-stage data centres, copper smelting under construction, and green hydrogen development. Understanding the group requires examining each subsidiary independently rather than reading Adani Enterprises’ consolidated accounts alone.
The group’s gross debt at end-FY2025 was Rs 2.9 lakh crore. Net debt after deducting the cash balance of Rs 53,843 crore was Rs 2.36 lakh crore. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 2.6 times is lower than it was in FY2019 (3.8 times) and is within the range typical for large infrastructure groups with long-term contracted revenue. Approximately 90% of EBITDA comes from assets rated AA or above, meaning the cash flows supporting the debt are of high credit quality. The cash balance covers 21 months of debt servicing.
That said, the absolute debt level is large and the group is actively increasing it to fund its $100 billion capex plan. Risks include interest rate sensitivity on floating-rate debt, currency risk on any foreign-currency borrowings, and execution risk on large greenfield projects where cost overruns or delays could stretch balance sheets. Investors and credit analysts track net debt-to-EBITDA and interest coverage ratios across individual entities, since the group’s ring-fenced structure means stress in one entity does not automatically trigger cross-default in others, but can affect funding access group-wide.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and is current as of June 10, 2026. All financial figures and regulatory facts are drawn from Adani Group company annual reports and results compendiums, BSE and NSE regulatory filings, Supreme Court orders, and SEBI public submissions. This article does not constitute an endorsement of, or a case against, any company, person, or regulatory position described herein. Nothing in this article constitutes investment advice.
