Hindenburg Research Teases Potential New India-Focused Report

US-based firm Hindenburg Research, known for its high-impact financial investigations, has sparked speculation by posting a cryptic message hinting at a forthcoming India-centric report. The teaser, shared on Saturday via Hindenburg’s official account on X (formerly Twitter), read simply: “Something big soon India.” This message comes more than a year after the firm’s explosive report on the Adani Group, which accused the Indian conglomerate of stock market manipulation and other financial irregularities.

In January 2023, Hindenburg Research published a report alleging that the Adani Group engaged in stock manipulation and fraud. These accusations led to a sharp decline in the stock prices of Adani’s companies, wiping out over $100 billion in market value. The timing of the report, just two days before Adani Enterprises launched a $2.5 billion public offering, further intensified the fallout. The Adani Group has consistently denied all allegations made by Hindenburg.

The controversy surrounding the Hindenburg report has continued to simmer. In July 2023, prominent Indian lawyer and BJP leader Mahesh Jethmalani alleged that the report was commissioned by Mark Kingdon, a US-based businessman with Chinese connections. Jethmalani claimed that Kingdon, along with his wife Anla Cheng, hired Hindenburg Research to produce the damaging report on the Adani Group. He further alleged that Kotak Mahindra Investments Limited was used to set up a trading account for short-selling Adani shares, enabling significant profits at the expense of Indian retail investors.

Jethmalani also called for a government investigation into potential links between domestic critics of the Adani Group and Chinese interests, suggesting that the report was part of a broader strategy of “Chinese vengeance” for losing out on infrastructure projects like the Haifa Port in Israel.

The Supreme Court of India had previously cleared the Adani Group of the charges raised in the Hindenburg report, following an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The court also dismissed a petition seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter.

In June, during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Adani Enterprises, Group Chairman Gautam Adani addressed the issue, stating, “We were faced with baseless accusations made by a foreign short seller that questioned our decades of hard work. In the face of an unprecedented attack on our integrity and reputation, we fought back and proved that no challenge could weaken the foundations on which your Group has been established.”

With Hindenburg Research now hinting at a new report, potentially targeting another major Indian entity, financial markets and political observers are bracing for the impact of what could be another explosive investigation.