‘FPOs come and get out’: Sitharaman on Adani row; ‘Perception about India intact’

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said in the last two days amid the Adani crisis the foreign exchange reserve has gone up by eight billion. “FPOs come and get out.

These fluctuations happen in every market. But the fact that we had 8 billion come in last few days proves that the perception about India and its inherent strength is intact,” the finance minister said commenting on the Adani FPO pullout.

Reiterating what she said on Friday that the market is well regulated, Sitharaman said regulators will do their job. “RBI made a statement. Prior to that banks, LIC came out and told about their exposure. Regulators are independent of the government and they are left to themselves to do what is appropriate so the market is well regulated,” Sitharaman said.

“How many times have the FPO not withdrawn from this country & how many times has the image of India been suffering because of that & how many times the FPOs have not come back?” the finance minister said.

In the wake of the Hindenburg report which accused the Adani Group of stock manipulation and fraud, Adani Enterprise withdrew ₹20,000 crore FPO to protect investors from potential losses.

As the Adani row turned into a political flashpoint with the opposition demanding a court-monitored probe or a joint parliamentary committee investigation into the charges, the finance minister on Friday said India’s financial sector is very well regulated and one instance is not going to be indicative.

Finance secretary TV Somanathan on Friday said the situation is a “storm in a tea cup” from the macroeconomic point of view. On Saturday, he said he stands by his statement — which came under attack from opposition political leaders — as he made the remark in terms of the macroeconomic numbers.