Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani spoke openly on the allegations made in America. He said that every attack makes us stronger and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone to success. He was addressing the 51st Gems and Jewelery Awards in Jaipur. He said that as most of you may have read less than 2 weeks ago, we faced allegations from the US regarding compliance practices at Adani Green Energy. This is not the first time we have faced such challenges. What I can tell you is that every attack makes us stronger and every obstacle becomes a stepping stone. Despite much negative reporting, no one on the Adani side has been charged with any FCPA violations or conspiracy to obstruct justice. In today's world, negativity spreads faster than facts.
My journey to becoming an entrepreneur began with the diamond business.
My journey from diamond trading to becoming an entrepreneur started. In the year 1978, at the age of 16, I left my school. After that he left his house in Ahmedabad and took a train ticket to Mumbai. At that time I didn't know what I would do, but I had in my mind that I wanted to become an entrepreneur. I believed that Mumbai is a city of opportunities which will give me this opportunity. I got my first opportunity at Mahendra Brothers, where I learned the art of diamond sorting. Even today I remember the joy of closing my first deal. It was a transaction with a Japanese buyer and I got a commission of Rs 10,000. That day began a journey that has shaped the way I live my life as an entrepreneur. I also learned that business creates a great future. What I learned as a teenager was that business doesn't come with a safety net. It is a discipline where you have to find the courage to fly without any safety net.
Faced with short-selling at the time of FPO
Gautam Adani said, in January last year, when we were preparing to launch our follow-on public offering, we faced short-selling from abroad. This was no ordinary financial attack; It was a double blow – targeting our financial stability and dragging us into political controversy. Some media with vested interests exaggerated all this. But despite such adverse circumstances, our commitment to our principles remained strong. After successfully raising Rs 20,000 crore from India's largest ever FPO, we took the extraordinary decision to return the money. We then demonstrated our resilience by raising capital from multiple international sources and reducing our debt-to-EBITDA ratio to below 2.5x, an unmatched metric in the global infrastructure sector.
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