Perhaps preempting a new story on its operations, the Adani Group issued a statement yesterday lamenting a “renewed attempt” by the Financial Times “to rehash old and baseless allegations to tarnish the name and standing of the Adani Group”. 

The statement warned that this attempt is part of an “extended campaign” by the British newspaper and its “collaborators” to “advance vested interests”. 

It said the “next attack is being fronted by Dan McCrum of the Financial Times, who jointly with the OCCRP put out a false narrative against the Adani Group on 31 August 2023. The OCCRP is funded by George Soros, who has openly declared his hostility against the Adani Group.”

Newslaundry had republished the OCCRP story on August 31, a meticulous investigation into alleged stock manipulation by four Adani companies between 2013 and 2017. (We’ve also written about the old, extended conspiracy theory surrounding George Soros, so read about it here and here.)

It was the latest development in a bad year for Adani. In January, Hindenburg Research had released a report saying the group was responsible for “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. 

In March, Financial Times reported that half of the Adani group’s FDI inflows came from “offshore companies linked to the Adanis”. The group swiftly issued a statement demanding that the newspaper take down its “misleading narrative”. Financial Times refused, saying it stood by its story.

Now, with a new Adani statement out of the blue, something’s clearly in the offing.

“The FT’s proposed story is based on the DRI’s General Alert Circular No.11/2016/CI dated 30 March 2016,” the statement said. “...The FT’s proposed storyline is a clever recycling and selective misrepresentation of publicly available facts and information with a deliberate and mischievous suppression of judicial decisions to arrive at a predetermined conclusion.”

We’re not sure what the allegations are, but the statement says the Adani Group denies “all such allegations, which are false and baseless”.

Sounds juicy. The ball’s now in Financial Times’s court.