Markets "Very Well Regulated": Nirmala Sitharaman On Adani Stock Crash

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday the country's markets were "well regulated" and she did not expect the controversy around tycoon Gautam Adani's business empire to affect investor confidence.

The combined market cap of Adani Group's listed units has collapsed by more than $120 billion -- about half of the group's value -- since US short-seller Hindenburg Research released an explosive report last week.

It accused Adani of accounting fraud and artificially boosting its share prices, calling it a "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme" and "the largest con in corporate history".

The Adani Group has called the Hindenburg report a "malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations that have been tested and rejected by India's highest courts".

India remained "an absolutely well governed" country and a "very well regulated financial market", Ms Sitharaman told broadcaster News18.

"One instance, however much talked about globally, I would think is not going to be indicative of how well Indian financial markets have been governed," Ms Sitharaman said.

Ms Sitharaman said public sector financial institutions had released detailed statements showing they had limited exposure to Adani Group and would not be significantly affected by the share crash.

"I think the investor confidence which existed before shall continue even now," she added.

Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.