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Sebi in its order says the ‘allegations made against Noticees in the show-cause notice are not established’.
Hindenburg Research became widely known in India in early 2023 after publishing a controversial report targeting the Adani Group, accusing it of being involved in “the largest con in corporate history”.
In a major development, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Thursday gave clean chit to Adani group, dismissing allegations of stock manipulation made by US short-seller Hindenburg Research against Gautam Adani and his group companies, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, and Adani Power.
What Is The Issue?
Hindenburg, in January 2023, alleged that the Adani Group used three companies — Adicorp Enterprises, Milestone Tradelinks, and Rehvar Infrastructure — as conduits to route money between Adani group firms.
The claim was that this helped Adani avoid rules on related party transactions, possibly misleading investors.
What Sebi Says
In two separate orders, Sebi found no violations, noting that at the time such transactions with unrelated parties did not qualify as related party dealings (the definition was expanded only after a 2021 amendment).
It also noted that the loans were repaid with interest, no funds were siphoned off, and hence there was no fraud or unfair trade practice. Accordingly, all proceedings against the Adani Group have been dropped.
“Having considered the matter holistically, I find that the allegations made against Noticees in the SCN (show-cause notice) are not established. Considering the above, the question of devolvement of any liability on Noticees does not arise and hence the question of determination of quantum of penalty also does not require any deliberation. I, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me under section 19 of the SEBI Act, 1992 read with sub-sections (1) and (4) of section 11, subsection (4A) of section 11 and sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 11B (1) of the SEBI Act, 1992, hereby dispose of the instant proceedings against Noticees without any direction,” Kamlesh C Varshney, whole-time member of Sebi, said in his two separate similarly worded orders on proceedings against the Adani group entities.
In the orders, Sebi has given clean chit to Adani Ports & Sez, Adani Power, Adani Enterprises, as well as Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani, and three others, from Hindenburg’s allegations.
Hindenburg’s 2023 Reports, Its Disbanding In 2025
Now-disbanded Hindenburg Research became widely known in India in early 2023 after publishing a controversial report targeting the Adani Group, accusing it of being involved in “the largest con in corporate history”. The report, which alleged stock manipulation by the conglomerate, led to a sharp decline in the Adani Group’s market value.
Despite the serious nature of the allegations, Adani and his companies have consistently denied all charges.
The group later recovered most of the losses, as the accusations were not substantiated.
In January 2025, Hinderberg founder Nate Anderson announced the decision to disband Hindenburg Research, stating that the firm’s operations would wind down after completing its pipeline of investigative reports.
Beyond the Adani Group, Hindenburg Research also targeted former India’s markets regulator Madhavi Puri Buch and her husband in previous reports.
(With inputs from agencies)
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h…Read More
Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h… Read More
September 18, 2025, 18:15 IST
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