Responding to Adani Group's Sunday 413-page riposte claiming that it complies with all local laws and had made the necessary regulatory disclosures, Hindenburg Research on Monday said that fraud cannot be obfuscated by nationalism or a bloated response that ignores every key allegation it originally raised.

"In terms of substance, Adani’s ‘413 page’ response only included about 30 pages focused on issues related to our report," Hindenburg said. "...we note that the core allegations of our report – focused on numerous suspect transactions with offshore entities – were left completely unaddressed," it added.

Hindenburg continues to short Adani Group through its U.S.-traded bonds and non-Indian-traded derivative instruments. Hindenburg, Adani said, had sought answers to 88 questions in its report, but 65 of them were related to matters that have been disclosed by Adani portfolio companies in annual reports.


"Adani failed to specifically answer 62 of our 88 questions. Of the questions it did answer, the group largely confirmed or attempted to sidestep our findings," the US-based whistle-blower said.



Hindenburg's findings, an attack on India?

Adani claimed that Hindenburg's findings are a calculated attack on India.

“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India,” Adani said in its response.

India vibrant democracy, emerging superpower; its future held back by Adani Group through "systematic loot"

-Hindenburg Research

Adani's response included more than 350 pages of annexes that included snippets from annual reports, public disclosures and earlier court rulings. The rest, Adani said, relate to public shareholders and third parties, and some were "baseless allegations based on imaginary fact patterns".

Hindenburg said "Adani failed to specifically answer 62 of our 88 questions."

Adani faces a critical day on Monday with his flagship company's $2.5 billion share sale's second day of bidding overshadowed by a $48 billion rout in the Indian billionaire's stocks which was sparked by a U.S. short seller's report.

Seven listed companies belonging to the Adani conglomerate, which is led by Asia's richest man, saw sharp falls in their values after Hindenburg Research report last week flagged concerns about high debt levels and the use of tax havens.

Adani Group issued a detailed response late on Sunday, saying it complies with all local laws and had made necessary regulatory disclosures. It has called the report baseless and said it was considering taking action against Hindenburg.

Adani is attempting to calm investors as it presses ahead with a $2.5 billion share sale and stem a stock rout that has erased more than $50 billion from his group’s market value.

For Adani, the stock market meltdown has been a dramatic setback for a school dropout who rose swiftly in recent years to become the world's third richest man, before slipping to rank seventh on the Forbes list last week.