Billionaire Gautam Adani’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd, which is set to raise ₹20,000 crore through a follow-on public offer, expects all its business verticals across roads, airports and industries, to achieve the scale for independent listing between 2026 and 2029.
Adani Enterprises is the incubation platform of the group, having spun off businesses across ports, transmission, renewables and city gas distribution into separate listed entities.
“Once a business meets three tests—the capacity to execute business plans independently; stable capital structure; and organizational capability, meaning the business has the capability to execute the projects it undertakes and can operate the assets in a world class manner—it possibly becomes available for demerger," Jugeshinder Singh, chief financial officer, Adani Group, said at a press conference on Thursday.
Adani Enterprises’ six core business verticals including primary industry, Adani Wilmar, the fast-moving consumer goods arm, airports, roads, data centres and Adani new industries are exactly where they should be in their journey, he said. “We expect broadly between 2026 and 2029 all of them will be ready," he added.
The follow-on offer will see the group invest ₹10,869 crore for the capital expenditure requirements of its subsidiaries in green hydrogen projects, airport facilities and constructing a greenfield expressway.
That apart, ₹4,165 crore will be used to repay the company’s debt as well as its three subsidiaries—Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, Adani Road Transport Ltd, and Mundra Solar Ltd either in part or in full. The remaining amount will be used for general corporate purpose, according to the draft of the offer.
The floor price for the FPO has been set at ₹3,112 while the cap is fixed at ₹3,276 apiece. An additional discount of ₹64 per share will be offered to retail investors. The Adani stock closed at ₹3461.60 on BSE on Thursday, down 3.72%. Bidders will have to pay half of the offer price initially and the balance in one or more tranches. The proposed offer will open on 27 January and close on 31 January.
Apart from its core businesses, Adani Enterprises is also exploring opportunities in the water sector.
“Water is a core element of infra and we have been in core infra portfolio for the past 20-25 years. Water treatment, water distribution and all elements related to water management is a big scope for the private sector to participate in and we are evaluating opportunities. We have a small water business, which we will continue to evaluate and see how we can build and scale it," said Singh.
However, the group has no specific plans or ambitions for the telecom sector, Singh added. “We have no goal, no ambition in telecom. We have ambition in the digital space, data, services for 400 million people that use our services. We don’t have any specific interest in the telecom sector."
The FPO will help expand the company’s shareholder register by adding new shareholders. “This allows us to further increase the participation of the average Indian investor as shareholders in Adani Enterprises. It is important for us that the Indian public is able to participate in the wealth creation story and one way to do that is to encourage participation in equity markets."
On concerns over environmental, social and corporate governance, especially for coal mining operations, Singh said the group is committed to energy transition and a majority of the group’s investments is focused on it.
“We are in the period of energy transition and not energy abandonment. Today, even Norway continues to invest in oil and gas, and export oil and gas; it has not stopped production. We will transition and the transition is reflected in where our investment is. Nearly 85% of our new investments are in the transition energy space, including green energy, green hydrogen, transmission infrastructure, and greening of transport logistics," he said.
However, as an infrastructure group investing and operating in India, one has to also accept the domestic demand and supply situation of the economy, Singh said.
“India does not have a foreseeable pathway out from basic energy in which coal does not play some role. We cannot be derelict to the duty of our home market. If some investor feels they are unable to invest in Adani Enterprises for their ESG concerns, we accept the position. But investors should not expect us to abandon the fundamental requirements of our own society," said Singh.