KV Kamath, former ICICI Bank Chief, on February 27 said, there is no crisis of confidence in India and that no single group carves out the destiny of the nation. His remark came against the backdrop of the Adani-Hindenburg issue.
NSE
In an exclusive interaction with CNBC-TV18, Kamath refused to particularly talk about the Adani Group fiasco, but said, “The market is functioning, the banks are functioning, the rest of it I don't really want to comment on. In a larger context, my 50 years plus of being in the banking business, 52 years to be precise, I don't think that any single group makes or carves out the history of this nation.”
Kamath believes there is no overall concern and that India will continue on its path of progress at the pace it has outlined. He doesn’t see any loss of confidence in India, consequent to the Adani-Hindenburg issue. This is because the external world now recognises that India has its own regulatory checks and balances, which will keep things in check.
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The developments come at a time when the Adani Group's stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after US-based short seller Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation, against it. The group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
The rout in Adani Group shares, which has wiped out over Rs 12 lakh crore of investor wealth over the last one month has taken the group’s market capitalisation below Rs 7 lakh crore. Market capitalisation worth another Rs 26,000 crore was lost in Monday's trading session.
Decline in the group's shares has also narrowed its dominance on the Indian bourses as the group’s market capitalisation as a percentage of combined BSE market capitalisation slid below three percent for the first time in the last two years.
Meanwhile, Gautam Adani, who was the first Asian to break into the top three in global billionaire’s list last year, has seen his fortune falling below $50 bn for the first time in two years. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani’s net worth has come off by over $78 billion over the last one month to $39.9 billion on February 27. This compares to the net worth of $149.9 billion on September 20, 2022.
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