Your group will continue to consolidate what it has built while looking at expanding
its horizons.
Dear Shareholders,
A few months back I heard a new term, Permacrisis. I learnt that the Collins dictionary
had defined it as "an extended period of instability and insecurity". They also
chose it as the word for the year 2022. Interestingly, I also learnt that two other words
that were in the running for the top spot were "quiet quitting" which meant
doing the bare minimum duties at work (in rejection of competitive careerism) and
"vibe shift" which meant a significant change in the prevailing culture. What I
find fascinating is that, in the post Covid world. These words accurately summarize
changes we see happening all around us.
A Global Reset is Underway
There can be no denying that the world is continuing to be hit by multiple shocks, be
it the climate emergency, geopolitical disequilibrium, supply chain and energy volatility,
or persistent inflation. What does make the situation a permacrisis is the fact that we
have never had a time wherein all these events were happening simultaneously and without a
clear solution in sight. Add to this the opportunities and challenges because of the
technological revolution, especially the breathtaking advances in artificial intelligence,
and what we have is a massive potential reset in the existing global operating models. The
future of work. The future of learning. The future of medicine, and in some ways. The
future of economic growth itself will need to be reset. Therefore, as we end one financial
cycle and begin another, it is important to take a step back and assess the global
economic situation and India's position as part of this landscape.
India - The Beacon of Hope
While economic cycles are getting increasingly hard to forecast. There is little doubt
that, India, already the world's 5th largest economy, will become the world's 3rd largest
economy well before 2030 and. Thereafter. The world's 2nd largest economy by 2050.
It is well understood that for any economy to lay the foundation of growth, a stable
Government is critical, and we have seen this impact with the implementation of several
structural reforms that are critical for strong, sustainable, and balanced growth. This
stability coupled with India's young demographics and continued expansion of internal
demand is a potent combination.
Our nation's demographic dividend is expected to drive consumption and accelerate the
growth of a tax paying society at record pace over the next three decades. The United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projects that India's median age will be just 38 years
even in 2050. Over this period, India's population is expected to grow by approximately
15% to 1.6 billion, but the per capita income will accelerate by over 700% to about 16,000
US dollars. On a purchasing power parity basis, this per capita metric will be 3 to 4
times higher. The growth of this consuming middle class is expected to insulate us to
quite some extent from global recessions as our growth is primarily driven by domestic
demand. This, in turn, should drive a logical surge in private and government expenditures
as well as attract more and more foreign direct investments.
And we have the statistics to prove it. Following our independence, it took us 58 years
to get to our first trillion dollars of GDP, 12 years to get to the next trillion and just
5 years for the third trillion. I anticipate that within the next decade, India will start
adding a trillion dollars to its GDP every 18 months - thereby putting us well on track to
be a 25 to 30 trillion-dollar economy by 2050. This will potentially drive India's total
market capitalization to over 40 trillion dollars, which is, approximately a10X expansion
from current levels.
I would urge you to reflect on these incredible possibilities ahead. India's success
story of balancing economic growth and a vibrant democratic society has no parallel. My
belief in the India growth story has never been higher.
The Short selling Incident
Let me now address the shortselling issue that impacted Adani Group this year. On the
eve of our Republic Day, a US- based short-seller published a report just as Adani Group
was planning to launch the largest Follow-on Public Offering (FPO) in India's history. The
report was a combination of targeted misinformation and outdated, discredited allegations
aimed at damaging Adani Group s' reputation and generating profits through a deliberate
drive-down of Adani Group stock prices.
Subsequently, despite a fully subscribed FPO, Adani Group decided to withdraw and
return the money to investors to protect their interests. The short-selling incident
resulted in several adverse consequences thatAdani Group had to confront. Even though
Adani Group promptly issued a comprehensive rebuttal, various vested interests tried to
opportunistically exploit the claims made by the short seller. These entities engaged and
encouraged false narratives across various news and social media platforms. Consequently.
The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India constituted an Expert Committee to look into this
matter. It comprised individuals known for their independence and integrity. The report of
the Expert Committee was made public in May 2023.
The Expert Committee did not find any regulatory failure. The Committee's Report not
only observed that the mitigating measures, undertaken by Adani Group helped rebuild
confidence but also cited that there were credible charges of concerted destabilization of
the Indian markets. It also confirmed the quality of Adani Group's disclosures and found
no instance of regulatory failure or any breach. While the SEBI is still to submit its
report in the months ahead, Adani Group remains confident of its governance and disclosure
standards.
Partnership nurturing Adani Total Gas
Since the announcement of Joint-Venture partnership between Adani Group and
TotalEnergies, Adani Total Gas Limited (ATGL) has grown from strength to strength. The
partnership is deriving significant synergies between Adani Group's capabilities of
developing world-class assets and TotalEnergies's global best practices & LNG knowhow,
supplementing in institutionalizing ATGL to be resilient and emerge stronger to overcome
any challenges and be ahead of the curve. I am delighted that ATGL, being one of the
largest CGD companies in India, has continued its focus on accelerating CGD infrastructure
growth across India and consumer centricity approach now expanding its horizons to
e-mobility and biomass businesses to provide choice of fuels to the consumers.
Adani Group - Resilient, Stronger and Record Results for FY 22-23
Over the past three decades, I have learnt that growth comes with its set of
challenges. Every challenge Adani Group has faced has made it more resilient. And this
resilience is vindicated by the outcomes Adani Group delivers.
FY22-23 operational and financial results are as much a testimony to Adani Group
success as testimony to Adani Group continued expansion of our customer base - be it on
the B2B side or the B2C side. Adani Group s' balance sheet, its assets, and its operating
cashflows continue to get stronger and are now healthier than ever before. The pace at
which Adani Group has made acquisitions and turned them around is unmatched across the
national landscape and has fuelled a significant part of expansion. Adani Group s'
national and international partnerships are proof of its governance standards. This scale
of international expansions is validated by success in Australia, Israel, Bangladesh, and
Sri Lanka.
Some Group Highlights
Adani Group is now constituted of 10 publicly traded entities, each with its own set of
several successes, I have listed below some of the key highlights across the various
businesses.
1. The Adani Group of companies set new financial performance records with a. total
EBITDA grew by 36% to INR 57,219 crores, b. total income grew by 96% to INR 1,38,715
crores, and
c. total PAT grew by 218% to INR 2,473 crores.
2. The Group's deleveraging program of USD 2.65 Bn for the Adani portfolio companies
was completed successfully and further improved our net Debt to run rate EBIDTA ratio from
3.2x to 2.8x in FY2023.
3. Adani Group's flagship company, Adani Enterprise Limited (AEL) continued to
successfully demonstrate its incubation capabilities with new businesses accounting for
50% of its EBITDA in FY23.
a. Of the several projects underway, two of the key ones include the Navi Mumbai
Airport and the Copper Smelter. Both are on schedule.
b. The Integrated Resource Management (IRM) volume increased by 37% to 88.2 MMT vs 64.4
MMT in FY 2021-22
c. In the area of the media business, AEL acquired New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV), and
49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Limited.
4. Adani Group is set to play a critical role in India's Net Zero journey. The
renewable energy business, Adani Green Energy Limited, commissioned the world's largest
hybrid solar-wind project of 2.14 GW in Rajasthan and the operational renewable energy
portfolio grew by 49% to over 8 GW. The largest operational renewable portfolio in India.
5. The backward integration plans in the renewable energy value chain progressed as
planned.
a. A new solar module line plant of 2 GW was operationalized and
b. The existing 1.5 GW module line was upgraded to 2.0 GW using TOPCON Cell Technology.
6. The ports business continued to be the pillar of strength on all fronts. APSEZ
continues to be amongst the most profitable port operators globally with port EBITDA
margin of 70%.
7. Adani Power Ltd. successfully commissioned the 1.6 GW Ultra-super critical Godda
power plant and is now supplying power to Bangladesh. This marks Adani Group'sentry into
the transnational power projects.
8. The transmission and distribution businesses set new benchmarks. Mumbai distribution
business achieved reliability of 99.99% and was ranked the number 1 discom by the Union
Ministry of Power.
9. Adani Total Gas Ltd, Adani Group's JV with TotalEnergies expanded access to clean
cooking fuel to 124,000 households this year with 46% increase in revenue to INR 4,683
Crore and is transforming into a full spectrum sustainable energy provider with foray into
e-mobility and biomass businesses.
10. Lastly, on partnership front, Adani Group continues to attract global investment
partners aligned to its longterm approach of building and operating world-class assets. In
March 2023, Adani Group successfully executed a secondary transaction with GQG partners of
USD1.87 billion despite the volatile market conditions.
Its all about a Better Tomorrow
The India in which we live today is the most exciting land of opportunities with
blossoming entrepreneurial spirit. Every day is a beginning of something new, innovative,
and transformative. Adani Group has always believed in growth with goodness philosophy and
track record speaks for itself. Adani group will continue to consolidate what it has built
while looking at expanding its horizons. Adani Group's consumers, investors, shareholders
and results speak for themselves. On behalf of your Company, I will reaffirm and assure
you that we are committed to the highest levels of governance and regulatory compliance.
In closing, let me emphasize how grateful I am for all your support.
It has been the greatest source of my strength and it is my promise to you that I will
do my utmost to uphold the trust you put in me and my team.
Thank you.
Gautam Adani.