The economic landscape of a nation is never a stranger to turbulence. However, despite global challenges like Covid-19 or geopolitical conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, and unrest in the Middle East, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has steadily grown to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. Today, she is on the path to becoming the third-largest economy. However, every journey is fraught with its own perils and challengers.
The Indian growth story was majorly rocked in January 2023 by a report published by Hindenburg Research, a US-based short selling firm. Hindenburg levelled allegations of share price manipulations and unlawful activities against the Adani Group. The opposition in India were quick to latch on to the issue, and without any verification started a massive political storm against the Modi government. These unsubstantiated allegations, coupled with a politically charged narrative, hit the share market in India. The social media campaign, political posturing and heated parliamentary debates created an illusion of proof around a completely unsubstantiated story. A known short selling firm, which thrives on damaging the share value of its target company for securing personal gains, suddenly became a whistleblower fighting for public good.
Illustration: Deni lal
The market disruption was so grave that the Supreme Court had to intervene and set up an expert committee in March 2023, to investigate the allegations levelled by Hindenburg. Under the direction and monitoring of the Supreme Court, the Securities and Exchange Board of India thoroughly investigated these allegations and submitted its interim report debunking self-serving allegations. The committee set up by the Supreme Court found no evidence of price manipulation by Adani Group or regulatory failures by SEBI.
Finally, when the dust settled, the investors in India suffered a staggering loss of around Rs53,000 crore. This was by far one of the biggest economic assaults on the sovereignty of any country. Reportedly, Hindenburg made over $4 million from it. Once you sift out the facts from the cacophony of political narrative and social media rampage, it becomes apparent that Hindenburg is not an angel-hearted whistleblower but a shark ready to strike with lethal precision.
About a year later, when the echoes of the turmoil in the financial market had begun to fade, Hindenburg delivered yet another hit on India, this time targeting the chairperson of SEBI. When the investigator dismantles your spurious claims, you strike back at the investigator in a desperate attempt to obscure your own dishonesty with a cloud of suspicion. Legal and financial experts find Hindenburg’s latest report a deliberate re-attempt to destabilise India’s economic growth trajectory. Former attorney general Mukul Rohtagi remarked that Hindenburg has “no credibility at all”, and Harish Salve, former solicitor general, commented that, “In any other country people would have said Hindenburg report belongs to garbage bin. Hindenburg is trying to browbeat SEBI”.
This time, the investors of India showed immunity against the new Hindenburg variant. The economic resilience exhibited by the market shows that the investors have seen through the sensationalist narrative. With the veil of deceit having been lifted from the minds of people, the political parties that once thrived on the controversy are retreating from this issue. As brilliantly put by Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” The journey of India’s growth is moving ahead steadfastly, despite the Hindenburg hindrance. My faith in the vision of a Vikisit Bharat by 2047, championed by our prime minister, stands resolute.
Bansuri Swaraj is a Lok Sabha MP from New Delhi.