Gautam Adani ranks seventh on the list of the world’s richest people right after Mukesh Ambani. In the last three years, the business tycoon has become immensely popular and has amassed a huge amount of wealth.
The regulatory scrutiny of the ownership structure of his listed companies had increased in October 2021, when Gautam Adani ranked 24th on the global billionaire’s list, as his wealth appreciated twentyfold since March 2016. However, the majority of owners of the ports-to-energy Adani Group are Gautam Adani and his family.
In May 2021, the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) froze the accounts of three Mauritius-based funds due to their insufficient disclosure of ownership under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. These funds – Albula Investment Fund, APMS Investment Fund and Cresta Fund, together owned around ₹43,500 crores ($6.2 billion) equity in the Adani Group, then.
The Adani Group of companies continues to use debt financing to fuel their existing businesses and enter new industries. The combined gross debt of the companies has reached a new high of ₹ 2.22 lakh crores, as of March 31, 2022, up 47% from ₹1.57 lakh crores a year ago.
The company’s gross debt-to-equity ratio was at a four-year high of 2.36 at the end of March, up from 2.02 a year ago and a low of 1.98 at the end of FY19.
The listed companies of the group have received ₹35,000 crores worth of long term loans from promoter entities. These loans have helped them incubate long gestation projects such as roads, ports, and airports and have reduced finance costs in FY22.
Let’s take a look at the debt of each of the group’s companies:
Adani Enterprises
This flagship company of the Adani group with its interests in multiple sectors from media to cement reported current liabilities of ₹ 43,849 crore and non-current liabilities of ₹ 35,653 crores for the fiscal year ended 2021-22.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones
Adani Ports operates 10 ports across Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha in the country. Its current debt stood at ₹ 11,136 crores and non-current at ₹ 45,491 crores for FY22.
Adani Power
With its power generation capacity of 12,450 MW comprising thermal power plants in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh and a 40 MW solar power project in Gujarat; Adani Power is the largest private thermal power producer in India. It ended March 2022 with 22.46% lower long-term debt levels of ₹ 46,133 when compared to the previous year. Its current liabilities stand at ₹ 17143 crores.
Adani Total Gas
The company is in the business of developing city gas distribution networks to supply the Piped Natural Gas to the industrial, commercial, & residential domains and Compressed Natural Gas to the transport sector. Though a large-cap stock, it has a comparatively smaller long-term debt of ₹ 534 crores for FY22. Its current liabilities stood at ₹ 1464 crores.
Adani Green Energy
The renewable energy arm of Adani Group, it is one of the most heavily indebted companies of the oil to energy empire. Its current as well as non-current debt increased astonishingly by 101.32% and 103.45% to cross ₹ 11,934 crores and ₹ 44,621 crores over the last fiscal year.
Adani Transmission
Adani Transmission is one of the largest power transmission companies with more than 14,100 ckt km of transmission lines and around 20,400 MVA of power transformation capacity. Its non-current liabilities have grown marginally over the previous three years and were ₹ 31,623 for the fiscal year ended March. Its current liabilities stood at ₹ 5928 crores, during the same period.
Adani Wilmar
With the group’s 44% stake in the coveted Adani Wilmar, the company has become a crown jewel of the group after its recent rally. The joint venture reported ₹ 817 crores in long-term debt and ₹ 12,812 crores as short-term debt for the year ended March 31, 2022.
