The Adani group rode on improved credit rankings and its banking leverage to successfully execute infrastructure projects even as other firms in the sector struggled, billionaire Gautam Adani said at a private event.
Calling it a challenging business, Adani lamented at the absence of a planned systemic reform with long-term roadmap, structural deficiencies in infra-project financing, and the role of the regulator for the stress in the sector. "Because of these problems, many companies either could not survive or decided to exit the sector."
So what did the Adani Group do differently? "To get good ratings, I tightened disclosure as well as our governance and benchmarked it to the international standard." That helped the company increase exposure from Indian financial institutions to global, Adani said at the event.
The billionaire rephrased Shah Rukh Khan's epic dialogue 'my name is Khan. I am not a terrorist' to 'my name is Adani. I'm a humble infra company', underscoring the group's philosophy.
"Today, we have a balanced portfolio of debt, with 29% domestic banks, 30% global banks, 34% through global bonds and 7% others."
In many ways, Adani Group has influenced the larger working culture in the infrastructure sector, he said. "The ‘chalta hai’ attitude of development in the infra space, with huge time and cost overruns, is being replaced by a new sense of purpose and urgency.
"To use a cricket analogy, the Adani Group has influenced the infrastructure sector in the same way as T20 has affected test cricket."
The Adani Group's recovery from a US-based short seller's attack last year highlights the essence of bouncing back stronger and symbolises resilience, Adani said. "Despite the efforts to shake our foundations, we stood firm, not just safeguarding our reputation but also ensuring we remained focused on our operations," Adani said.