Adani row: Indian regulators can handle the situation, says Piyush Goyal; Bihar CM demands investigation
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that regulators are well-equipped to handle the crisis and will take appropriate measures in response to claims of fraud against billionaire Gautam Adani’s enterprises, which prompted a historic stock drop.
He also characterised the opposition stalling the Parliament’s sessions on the topic as “unfortunate”.
“The regulators in India are very competent and our financial markets are amongst the most respected and well regulated markets in the world. As regards the loss, that’s the share market’s valuation loss, not the loss of any individual or people’s wealth,” Goyal said.
In response to criticism from the opposition that the government is avoiding discussion of the Adani issue and the estimated USD 100 billion loss, he said that while investments in shares and stocks fluctuate, that is a normal part of investing and that nowhere has the people of India lost the amounts that are mentioned (USD 100 billion).
The Minister stated that the financial institutions have already made it clear that their customers’ money is completely secure and protected, and that the two major organisations, LIC and State Bank, have both released information.
“I think it is a matter of a private company, a report which has been brought out by a foreign agency, based on which some of the allegations have been made, whatever regulators need to do, they will take appropriate action on that,” he said.
In response to a query, the Minister stated that “No one anywhere in the world offers any guarantees in the stock market, but banks and financial institutions are constantly keeping an eye on the situation. “I can assure you that our regulators are very competent to handle the situation.”
Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, stated on Saturday that suspicions of fraud against businesses controlled by Gautam Adani “should be looked into.”
In response to questions from journalists regarding the political controversy surrounding the claims that shook the procedures of Parliament, Kumar made the allegation in the Kishanganj district, which he visited as part of his statewide “Samadhan Yatra.”
“Yes, I have heard about it. His (Adani’s) business model has been called into question. Now that things have come to light, the matter should be looked into (haan kuchh sune hain, dekh rahe hain, uske kaam ka kuchh khas matlab nahin hai. Ab to aa hi gaya sab kuchh Prakash mein to isko dekhna chahiye)”, said the JD(U) supreme leader.
In any case, Kumar severed relations with the BJP less than six months ago, and his party has joined the opposition in calling for an investigation by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the alleged fraud involving the businessman who is thought to be close to the NDA government at the Centre.
Parties like Congress have additionally claimed that Public Sector Organizations like the LIC were “forced” to make significant investments in the Adani Group, which recently experienced an unheard-of decline in its stock price. The Adani company has insisted that Hindenburg Research’s damaging analysis was “malicious” despite its US location.
