No impact of Adani rout, India has 15 to 16 firms in renewables: R K Singh

Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh on Thursday dismissed apprehensions about any impact of Adani group firms' stock route on clean energy development, saying India has many such large companies in the sector.

Singh's statement comes at a time when opposition party members have joined hands in both the houses of the Parliament demanding suspension of regular proceedings to discuss the allegations of fraud against the Adani Group.

The proceedings of Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha were completely washed out on Thursday due to the issue.

Asked about the impact of the issue on clean energy sector, Singh told reporter in a press conference, "I have the most robust renewable energy capacity in the world and that means that I have at least 15-16 large companies which are at the level of global companies. It will not impact us in any way. We have many large companies and those are some of the biggest renewable energy companies in the world."

The opposition parties have also sought a probe by a joint committee into the rout in Adani group companies stocks.

The opposition has demanded suspension of regular business of Parliament to discuss the Adani group stock route issue and its impact on millions of small investors as well as the hard-earned savings of crores of Indians being endangered in loss of value of investments of LIC.

The rout in Adani group stocks has threatened the value of investments made by the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) and public sector banks.

Adani group stocks, where LIC is heavily invested, have lost over USD 100 billion in value since the tiny New York firm came out with a damning report alleging financial and accounting fraud by the ports-to-energy conglomerate.

The Adani Group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. It termed the Hindenburg report baseless and threatened to sue the short seller.

On Wednesday night, Adani Enterprises announced that it has decided not to go ahead with its Rs 20,000-crore follow-on Public Offer (FPO) and will return the proceeds to investors. The announcement came a day after the FPO was fully subscribed on the last day on Tuesday.