Adani Group remains beated down on the markets and protest across India continue to mount in the wake of a scathing report released by activist investment firm and infamous short seller Hindenburg Research on January 24.
Losses among Adani Group’s seven subsidiaries have exceeded US$112bn, while chairman Gautam Adani’s net worth continues to plummet. In the space of two weeks, Gautam Adani has slipped to third-richest to 18th-richest person globally, and no longer remains Asia’s richest man.
Adani Group has vigorously denied Hindenburg’s allegations, which range from accounting fraud and stock manipulation to money laundering.
The group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises Ltd was forced to abandon a US$2.5bn share sale last week.
Hindenburg Research: From niche activist investor to Gautam Adani's US$50bn headache
Protesters have swarmed to New Delhi's Jantar Mantar observatory, holding up banners and shouting slogans against Gautam Adani.
Protesters have also begun to target prime minister Narendra Modi the State Bank of India (SBI) and other financial institutions for supposed ties to the Adani Group.
As these protests mount, SBI and other major Indian banks including IndusInd Bank and Punjab National Bank have moved to assure stakeholders of their limited exposure to Adani.
But some banks, including SBI and Bank of Baroda, have signalled a willingness to continue lending to the conglomerate, provided that it meets certain underwriting requirements.
Bank of Baroda's managing director Sanjiv Chadha told Reuters that the lender's outstanding exposure to the group was less than a quarter of the legal maximum that any financial institution is allowed to have with a single conglomerate.
Members of India's main opposition party have been detained for joining the protests, and parliament remains suspended due to disruptions caused by the crisis.
The rout in Adani shares is starting to cause anxiety in the wider Indian equities market.
The "relentless selling by foreign investors in Indian stocks is a serious cause for concern," said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
However, benchmark index, the Nifty 50 closed only 0.5% lower on Monday and remains in the green on a week-on-week basis.