Any denial of loan unlikely to affect business: Adani Enterprises

Mumbai: Billionaire Gautam Adani-controlled Adani Enterprises Ltd on Thursday said the company is in discussion with a number of financial institutions in India and abroad to raise money and any denial of a particular loan is unlikely to affect its business.

Adani Enterprises was clarifying news reports that the State Bank of India may turn down Adani’s $1 billion loan proposal for its Australian mining business.

“Given our various capex (capital expenditure) plans, we continue to work with various financial institutions for raising financial resources,” the company said in a filing to the stock exchanges. “These endeavours are ongoing and outcome of any particular transaction is normally unlikely to affect the business plans.”

Last week, news agencies had reported that the country’s largest lender is preparing to turn down a $1 billion loan request from Adani Enterprises intended for a $7 billion coal project in Australia, scrapping a preliminary deal signed last year, citing unnamed people.

A preliminary deal struck in November, signed during a visit to Australia by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, caused an uproar in India, with opposition parties criticizing the record loan to a group whose founder is perceived to be close to Modi.

At the time, SBI had said the bank had only signed a memorandum of understanding and the final call would be taken only after proper due diligence and project appraisal.