At a time when bankers and investors have adopted a cautious approach to Adani Group companies, Rajiv Jain, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of GQG Partners, believes the Indian conglomerate is not only a safe bet but also “fantastic” and “irreplaceable”.

“About 25 per cent of India’s air traffic passes through their airports and 25 per cent to 40 per cent of India’s cargo volume goes through their ports. The biggest competitor is actually the Indian government, who is not exactly the fastest-running horse in the race,” Jain said in an interview with The Australian Financial Review.

‘Disagree with Hindenburg’

On Thursday, Jain’s US-based global equity investment firm GQG Partners made investments worth ₹15,446 crore in four Adani group companies — Adani Ports and SEZ, Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises — through secondary market transactions. This came as a surprise move because other investors have been exiting Adani stocks, pulling down the market cap of the conglomerate by over $100 billion since Hindenburg Research’s report was published on January 24.

The short seller firm had alleged fraud and misgovernance at Adani firms. But Jain said he disagreed with the Hindenburg findings. “They have their view and we have our view, and we happen to disagree with their view, but that’s what makes a market,” Jain said.

The last four sessions saw the port-to-power group adding a market capitalisation of nearly ₹1.72-lakh crore, of which ₹68,430-crore addition was witnessed in a single session of Friday. According to Jain, GQG had been looking at Adani stocks for the last five years, but the “valuation was in no man’s territory”.

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