Adani Group Shares Take a Dive: Market Cap Plummets Below Rs 8 Lakh Cr
The Adani Group witnessed a sharp decline in its share prices on Wednesday, leading to a further drop in its overall market capitalization which fell below the Rs 8 lakh crore level due to a broader slump in the stock market. The conglomerate saw its market value decline by nearly Rs 53,000 crore, reaching Rs 7.55 lakh crore, as its stocks dropped by between 4% and 11%. Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship company, declined by 11% and closed at Rs 1,400.85, while Adani Ports fell 6.72% and ended at Rs 544. Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, Adani Wilmar, and Adani Total Gas also witnessed a 5% fall, which is the lowest tradable limit for the day.
Ambuja Cements and ACC also experienced a drop in their share prices by 5% and 4%, respectively. The total market value of the Adani Group had fallen below $100 billion or Rs 8.27 lakh crore on Tuesday. Since January 25, when the Hindenburg Research report on the Adani Group was released, the conglomerate’s market capitalization has fallen by 61% or Rs 11.65 lakh crore. On January 24, the total market value of the Adani Group was Rs 19.12 lakh crore, and it reached a peak market cap of Rs 22.93 lakh crore on September 20 last year.
The decline in Adani Group’s shares has resulted in its billionaire founder Gautam Adani falling to 26th place on the Forbes Real Time Billionaires Index from the third spot. He has lost almost $85 billion of his net worth this year, bringing it down to $43.4 billion. In September 2022, Adani became the second richest person in the world, surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $147 billion.
The Hindenburg report stated that Adani’s seven key listed companies have an 85% downside potential purely on fundamental grounds due to their excessively high valuations. As a result, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, and Adani Transmission have dropped by 79% and 72% each respectively since the report was published, while Adani Enterprises plunged by 60% during the same period.
