Hindenburg Allegations Target SEBI Chief Madhabi Buch: Mukesh Ambani’s Strategic Balancing Act Amid Controversy

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New Delhi: Earlier this year, US-based short seller Hindenburg Research released a controversial report, claiming that SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, held interests in offshore funds connected to the Adani Group. According to Hindenburg, this connection allegedly influenced SEBI's ability to take firm action against the billionaire Gautam Adani-led conglomerate, raising concerns about the regulator’s objectivity.

Nearly a year after its first report, which sent Adani Group’s shares plummeting, Hindenburg Research released another critical report. This new report accused the Adani Group of insider trading, stock market violations, and various financial misdeeds. Hindenburg also claimed that the conglomerate breached SEBI’s rules on minimum public shareholding, with promoter holdings exceeding the allowed 75 percent threshold.

Nearly two years after the initial allegations, SEBI has now issued a show-cause notice to the Adani Group, accusing it of wrongly labeling certain promoter group entities as public shareholders.

Mukesh Ambani’s Balancing Act Amid Adani’s Woes

While Gautam Adani faces renewed scrutiny, Mukesh Ambani is quietly striking a balance by partnering with tech giant NVIDIA. This strategic move comes as India strengthens ties with Russia and China, highlighted during the recent BRICS summit where Prime Minister Modi supported launching a trade settlement platform and a common currency to counterbalance the US-led financial system.

New Delhi's move is likely to ruffle feathers in the United States, but Mukesh Ambani is attempting to ease tensions by joining forces with NVIDIA to boost AI infrastructure in India. On Thursday, in a significant push to advance India’s artificial intelligence capabilities, Reliance, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and NVIDIA announced their partnership to develop state-of-the-art AI infrastructure. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang revealed this collaboration at the NVIDIA AI Summit 2024 in Mumbai.

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and the world’s richest person, is setting his sights on India’s telecom market, currently led by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio. Musk aims to introduce his satellite-powered mobile service, Starlink, in partnership with an Indian company, and is now awaiting government approval to move forward.