Domestic banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) now account for 36% of the Adani Group’s total debt mix, having raised their exposure to the group by around 500 basis points through 2023-24, data showed. Debt at the Indian conglomerate rose on account of capex in some of their businesses.
Including working capital and long-term debt, Indian lenders have lent a total of ₹88,100 crore to the group out of their total debt of ₹2,41,394 crore as on March 31, 2024.
Domestic private and state-owned banks and NBFCs had an outstanding of ₹70,213 crore to the group as on March 31, 2023. This was about 31% of the group’s gross debt of ₹2,27,248 crore then.
Banks including the State Bank, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have increased their lending to the Adani Group, people aware of the development said. Queries sent to the banks remained unanswered till the time of going to the press.
The group saw an increase in their debt levels on account of the capital expenditure in the airports and green energy businesses. It has businesses spanning infrastructure, ports, metals, building materials, utilities and fast-moving consumer goods.
The group’s debt from the domestic capital market also rose last fiscal to ₹12,404 crore by March 2024 from ₹11,562 crore a year earlier.
Debt from global banks, meanwhile, saw a marginal dip to ₹63,296 crore as of March end from ₹63,781 crore a year earlier while debt from global capital markets dipped to ₹69,019 crore from ₹72,794 crore during the same period.
The Adani Group’s debt rose by around 6% on year as of March end.
Operating profit at a group level jumped 45% on year to ₹82, 917 crore in 2023-24, largely aided by the infrastructure businesses of Adani Enterprises including airports, green hydrogen and the data centre businesses.
The group is eyeing an operating profit of ₹1,00,000 crore in the current fiscal, anchored by incremental cash flows from its cement, ports, green energy, airports and solar modules businesses.
Capacity at Adani Cement is set to increase nearly 13% as the recently acquired Penna Cement comes on board. Vizhinjam and Colombo ports will become operational this year along with a ramp up of Gangavaram and Krishnapatnam ports.
Capacity at Adani Green Energy is set to go up to nearly 17 gw during the year from around 11 gw currently. The group’s airport at Navi Mumbai is also set to become operational during the year, and strong demand from the solar modules business is expected to contribute to the cash flows.
While the group’s debt rose 6% on year in FY24, a significantly higher rise in its operating profit in the same period helped the group bring down net debt-to-operating profit ratio to its lowest level in at least six years at 2.19 times as of March end, down from 3.27 times a year earlier.
