Obsessed with Adani: Indian billionaire rejects Western claims to sell substandard coal

Port mining company Adani Enterprises has denied Western media allegations that it sold low-quality imported coal to an Indian state-run power utility at inflated prices.

The allegations were made by the Organised Crime Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and reported by British publication Financial Times (FT) on Wednesday.

The FT report said that around 24 loads of Indonesian coal imported into India between January and October 2014 were sold to Tamil Nadu state-run power utility TANGEDCO during the same period.

It also alleged that the investigation was based on documents from various jurisdictions, leaked documents from Indonesian coal suppliers and investigation documents from India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

"Adani operates a robust corporate governance system and is firmly committed to complying with all laws and regulations in all jurisdictions. “Their (OCCRP) allegations are false and baseless and we strongly reject any allegation that Adani's portfolio of companies acted inappropriately,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Sputnik India on Thursday.

Indian companies refute Western media claims

The representative clarified that payments only vary from shipment to shipment due to the varying quality of coal delivered to TANGEDCO based on an "independent, transparent and rigorous process."

In a point-by-point rebuttal to OCCRP and FT's claims, Adani representatives explained that the company has a "fixed price contract" with TANGEDCO that requires it to supply coal at a "predetermined price."

A spokesperson said each shipment of coal delivered at the time was subject to quality control by the sender, receiver, company representatives, customs officials and independent assessors.

Additionally, Adani denied allegations that the coal supplied to TANGEDCO was of "substandard quality". “Tests include gross calorific value (GCV), moisture content, ash content, etc. In fact, tender documents and contracts define test procedures and parameters in great detail to avoid discrepancies in these as you claim, the payment depends on the quality of the coal delivered. It will be decided which one passes the testing process,” Commissioner Adani claimed in a statement.

The analyst further added that the coal delivered had undergone a thorough quality inspection process at multiple locations by multiple authorities, so the allegation of substandard coal being delivered is clearly unfounded and unwarranted. He emphasized that this was completely unreasonable. Additionally, Adani officials revealed that the specific vessel mentioned in the OCCRP investigation, the MV Kalliopi, was transporting coal under different contracts and under different conditions. The spokesperson explained, ``Not only are the prices of the two not comparable, but the procurement price itself is irrelevant because the delivery order was a fixed price contract in which the supplier was responsible for both profits and losses.''

Indian authorities oppose Adani  

Adani officials said India's financial fraud investigation agency, the Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence, had arrested 40 Indian companies, including Adani Power, Reliance Infrastructure, JSW Steel, Essar Group and several state-run power generation companies. He pointed out that an investigation into this suspicion had already begun. Alleged fraud that drove up Indonesia's coal import prices.

"Your single-minded obsession with the Adani Group is fascinating and perhaps best explained by yourself," it said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that DRI itself does not "object" to the company's actions in court, which were necessitated by the investigation launched by Indian authorities.

“In January 2023, DRI withdrew its appeal, with the Supreme Court stating that it ``appreciates the government's stance of not filing meaningless lawsuits.'' Commissioner Adani emphasized that ``The issue of overvaluation of coal imports has finally been clearly settled by the Supreme Court of India.''

The Indian company denied claims that Adani's coal supply was responsible for the worsening air pollution situation, saying it supplied only 2% of the total coal consumed by Tangedco during the period.

"We are confident that a respected and responsible newspaper like the Financial Times would not spread such empty claims," ​​Adani said.

He also pointed out that in January, India's Supreme Court declared "baseless" allegations of stock price gouging last year by New York-based short seller Hindenburg Research.

Hindenburg's accusations triggered the biggest stock market crash in Indian corporate history.  Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani called Hindenburg's claims an "attack on India".