Adani Group
Adani Group, is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Ahmedabad, India. It was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business, with the flagship company Adani Enterprises Limited (previously Adani Exports Limited). The Group's diverse businesses include port management, electric power generation and transmission, renewable energy, mining, airport operations, natural gas, food processing and infrastructure. The group has annual revenue of over US$20 billion with operations at 70 locations in 50 countries. In April 2021, Adani Group became the third Indian conglomerate to cross US$100 billion in market capitalization. It crossed  the market capitalization of US$200 Billion in April 2022 becoming the third Indian conglomerate after Tata Group and Reliance Industries Limited to do so. As on 22nd April 2022, the market capitalization of the Adani Group is estimated to be 215 billion. History. The Adani Group commenced as a commodity trading firm in 1988 and diversified into the import and export of multi-basket commodities. With a capital of ₹5 lakhs, the company was established as a partnership firm with the flagship company, Adani Enterprises, previously Adani Exports. In 1990 the Adani Group developed its own port in  Mundra to provide a base for its trading operations. It began construction at Mundra in 1995. In 1998, it became the top net foreign exchange earner for India Inc. The company began coal trading in 1999 followed by a joint venture in edible oil refining in 2000 with the formation of Adani Wilmar. The group's second phase started with the creation of large infrastructure assets. The company established a portfolio of ports, power plants, mines, ships and railway lines inside and outside India. Adani handled 4 Mt of cargo at Mundra in 2002, becoming the largest private port in  India. Later in 2006, the company became the largest coal importer in India with 11 Mt of coal handling. The company expanded its business in 2008 purchasing Bunyu Mine in Indonesia which has 180 Mt of coal reserves. In 2009 the firm began generating 330 MW of thermal power. It also built edible oil refining capacity in India of 2.2 Mt per annum. Adani Enterprises became the largest trading house in India importing coal with a market share 60%. It also supplies coal to NTPC, India. The Adani group became India's largest private coal mining company after Adani Enterprises  won the Orissa mine rights in 2010. Operations at the Port of Dahej commenced in 2011 and ts capacity subsequently grew to 20 Mt. The company also bought Galilee Basin mine in Australia with 10.4 gigatonnes (Gt) of coal reserves. It also commissioned 60 Mt of handling capacity for the coal import terminal in Mundra, making it the world's largest. In addition, in the same year, the Adani group also bought Abbot Point port in Australia with 50 Mt of handling capacity. It commissioned India's largest solar power plant with a capacity 40 MW. As the firm achieved  3,960 MW capacity, it became the largest private sector thermal power producer in India. In 2012 The company shifted its focus on three business clusters – resources, logistics and energy. Adani Power emerged as India's largest private power producer in 2014. Adani Power's total installed capacity then stood at 9,280 MW. The Mundra Port, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd. (APSEZ), handled 100 Mt in fiscal 201314. On 16 May of the same year, Adani Ports acquired Dhamra Port on East coast of India for . Dhamra Port was a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Steel and L&T Infrastructure Development Projects , which has now been acquired by Adani Ports. The port began operations in May 2011 and handled a total cargo of 14.3 Mt in 201314. With the acquisition of Dhamra Port, the Group is planning to increase its capacity to over 200 Mt by 2020. In 2015 the Adani Group's Adani Renewable Energy Park signed a pact with the Rajasthan Government for a 50:50 joint venture to set up India's largest solar park with a capacity of 10,000 MW. In November 2015, the Adani group began construction at the port in Vizhinjam, Kerala. Adani Aero Defence signed a  pact with Elbit-ISTAR and Alpha Design Technologies to work in the field of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in India in 2016. In April, Adani Enterprises secured approval from the Government of Gujarat to begin work on building a solar power equipment plant. In September, Adani Green Energy (Tamil Nadu), the renewable wing of the Adani Group, began operations in Kamuthi in Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 648 MW at an estimated cost of . In the same month, the Adani Group inaugurated a 648 MW single-location solar power plant. It was the world's largest solar power  plant at the time it was set up In December, the Adani Group inaugurated a 100 MW solar power plant in Bhatinda, the largest in Punjab. The plant was built at a cost of . On 22 December 2017, the Adani Group acquired the power arm of Reliance Infrastructure for . In October 2019, French oil and gas company Total SA bought a 37.4% stake in Adani Gas for and obtained joint control of the company. Total also invested 510 million in a subsidiary of Adani Green Energy in February 2020. In August 2020, Adani Group obtained a majority stake in Mumbai  and Navi Mumbai airports after entering a debt acquisition agreement with GVK Group. Through a concession agreement with the Airports Authority of India, Adani Group also obtained a 50-year lease on Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram airports. In May 2021, Adani Green Energy acquired SB Energy, a joint venture of SoftBank Group and Bharti Enterprises, for 3.5 billion..Adani shares hit most downfall during 2022. Listed companies. Adani Enterprises. Adani Enterprises is a holding company, which is primarily engaged in mining and trading of coal and iron ore on a standalone basis, and acts as an incubator  for Adani Group's new business ventures. It has three main subsidiaries: Adani Wilmar (food processing), Adani Airport Holdings (airport operations) and Adani Road Transport (road development). Through its other subsidiaries, Adani Enterprises also has business interests in solar PV module manufacturing, water infrastructure, data centers, agri-output storage and distribution, defence and aerospace, bunkering, rail and metro infrastructure, real estate, financial services, oil exploration, petrochemicals, and cement. Adani Green Energy. Adani Green Energy is the renewable energy arm of the group having wind and solar power plants in its portfolio. It is the world's largest solar power developer  by capacity, with a total capacity of 12.3 GW. Adani Ports & SEZ. Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ) is the largest private port company and special economic zone in India, with ten ports and terminals including Mundra Port, its largest. The company is headed by Karan Adani, CEO of APSEZ. The company's operations include Port management, logistics and the special economic zone. The company operates at the following ports: Mundra, Dahej, and Hazira, Gujarat; Dhamra, Odisha; Kattupalli, Tamil Nadu; and Vizhinjam, Kerala. Adani Power. Adani Power was established in August 1996. The company develops and maintains power projects and is the  largest private sector power generation company in the country. It has a combined installed capacity of 12,450 MW with four thermal power projects across India. Adani Transmission. Integrated in 2013, Adani Transmission handles the commissioning, operations and maintenance of electric power transmission systems. As of May 2021, the company holds, operates and maintains 17,200 circuit kilometres of transmission lines that range from 400 to 765 kilovolts, making it India's largest private sector power transmission and distribution network. Adani Total Gas. Adani Total Gas is a city gas distribution company serving both industrial and residential customers in India through piped  natural gas connections and compressed natural gas stations. It is a joint venture between Adani Group and the French oil and gas company TotalEnergies. Adani Total Gas has presence in 22 geographical areas (GAs) as a standalone entity as of November 2020. In addition, Indian Oil-Adani Gas Pvt. Ltd., a 50:50 joint venture between Adani Total Gas and Indian Oil Corporation, operates city gas distribution networks in 19 GAs. With a combined presence of 41 GAs in 74 districts, Adani Total Gas is the largest city gas operator in India. Recently, The Adani Group announced strategic collaboration with Snam , Europe's leading gas infrastructure company on energy mix transition. Adani Wilmar. Adani Wilmar, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises Ltd and Wilmar International Limited, is the owner of the Fortune brand of edible oils. It has the largest range of edible oils comprising soya bean, sunflower, mustard, and rice bran. Its Fortune brand of oil has around 20% market share in India. Awards and recognition. Adani Enterprises APSEZ Adani Green Energy Limited Adani Power Philanthropy. Adani Foundation has established cost free schools, the Adani Vidya Mandir, at 3 different locations in Ahmedabad Bhadreshwar and Surguja for underprivileged children. Other  schools funded by the foundation include Adani DAV Public School, Adani Vidyalayas and Navchetan Vidyalaya. The foundation provides education to 1,000,000 children through 600 schools and balwadis. Set up by Gujarat Adani Institute of Medical Sciences, the GK General Hospital with 750 beds in Bhuj provides treatment to many people. The foundation has inaugurated village development works in the villages of Bada gram panchayat. The Adani Foundation has implemented System of Rice Intensification method on 4,000 acres of farmland spread across 42 villages and empowered 2,050 farmers. In 2020, the Adani Foundation donated to the PM CARES Fund to fight  the COVID-19 pandemic. The Foundation made contributions of to the Gujarat CM Relief Fund and to Maharashtra CM Relief Fund. The employees of Adani Group made a contribution of to Adani Foundation for COVID-19 relief measures. In March 2021, Adani Group announced that it will reimburse the charges incurred by the employees and their families for the COVID-19 vaccination. In May 2021, Adani Group procured 48 cryogenic tanks from manufacturers in Thailand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Taiwan for transporting medical grade liquid oxygen to combat the second wave of COVID-19 in India. Sports. The Adani Group has multiple initiatives  in sports. Launched in 2016 to prepare athletes for Rio Olympics, Garv Hai is a nationwide programme to promote sports and support athletes in India. It has been re-launched for a second time to groom athletes for 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The programme focuses on archery, shooting, athletics, boxing, and wrestling. Beneficiaries of the Garv Hai pilot project in 2016 include Ankita Raina (tennis), Pinki Jangra (boxing), Shiva Thapa (boxing), Khushbir Kaur (athletics), Inderjeet Singh (athletics), Mandeep Jangra (boxing), Malaika Goel (shooting), Deepak Punia (wrestling), KT Irfan (racewalking) and Sanjivani Jadhav (athletics).Adani group also  owns a pro kabaddi league team Gujarat Giants. Another initiative is the Surguja Football Academy in Chhattisgarh. So far 11 players from Surguja have been selected to play for national Indian football team. Adani Group also has naming rights on Hegvold Stadium (now known as Adani Arena) in Rockhampton and the pavilion end of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Controversies. Coal mining in Australia. The Adani Group launched in 2014, with the support of a part of the Australian Government and Queensland, a mining and rail project (Carmichael coal mine) in Carmichael in Queensland's Galilee Basin for $ 21.5 billion (over the life of the project, i.e. 60 years). This mine is just one of many coal mines in Queensland, Australia. Its annual capacity would be 10 Mt of thermal coal. This project will occupy an area of . In response to activist pressure some international banks refused to finance it, and in November 2018, Adani Australia announced that the Carmichael project would be 100% financed by Adani Group resources. In July 2019, the project received its final approvals from the Australian Government and construction of the mine commenced. The Australian Government has been taken to the Federal Court  of Australia by the Australian Conservation Foundation twice, once in 2018 and once in March 2020 (still ongoing ), relating to its contravention and alleged contravention of the "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999" with respect to the impact of the mine on groundwater and the country's water resources. On 29 December 2021, Bravus announced that the first shipment of high-quality coal from the Carmichael mine has been assembled at the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT) in Bowen ready for export as planned. Tax evasion. On 27 February 2010, Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Rajesh Adani, managing director  of Adani Enterprises Ltd on charges of custom duty evasion to the tune of ₹80 lakh. In August 2017, Indian customs alleged the Adani Group was diverting millions of funds from the company's books to Adani family tax havens overseas. Adani was accused of using a Dubai shell company to divert the funds. The details of $235 million diversion were obtained and published by "The Guardian". In 2014, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence mapped out a complex money trail from India through South Korea and Dubai, and eventually to an offshore company in Mauritius allegedly owned by  Vinod Shantilal Adani, the older brother of Gautam Adani.