New Delhi, Jun 24 (PTI) The Adani Group plans to invest a record USD 15-20 billion across businesses over the next five years to chart out the next phase of growth, Chairman Gautam Adani said on Tuesday as he touted the conglomerate's strong balance sheet and robust business to shrug off relentless scrutiny it faces.

Record earnings from the businesses ranging from seaports to airports, renewable energy parks to data centres, cement to gas and electricity has built India's largest infrastructure group that not only exists just to serve the markets but to serve the nation's destiny, he said.

Addressing the group's annual general meeting virtually, he referred to recent indictment by the US authorities in an alleged bribery scheme to win lucrative renewable energy supply contracts, saying no one from Adani Group has been charged with violating US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or conspiring to obstruct justice.

"Even in the face of the storms and relentless scrutiny, the Adani Group has never backed down. Instead, we proved that true leadership is not built in sunshine. It is constructed in the fire of crisis," he said.

"This was tested again last year, when we faced allegations from the US Department of Justice and the SEC relating to Adani Green Energy." Despite all the noise, "the facts are that no one from the Adani Group has been charged with violating the FCPA or conspiring to obstruct justice," he said.

"We live in a world where negativity often echoes louder than the truth. And as we cooperate with legal processes, let me also restate that our governance is of global standards, and our compliance frameworks are non-negotiable." In January 2023, US short-seller Hindenburg Research published a scathing report describing the Adani Group as "the largest con in corporate history". The fallout was swift: stock prices plummeted, wiping out over USD 150 billion in market value at the lowest point, and the group's biggest public offering was abruptly scrapped.

Just as the group scripted a comeback through a mix of trimming of debt, cutting back on the founder's pledged shares, bringing in both promoter and marquee investor equity, and refocusing attention on the group's core businesses, the conglomerate was hit by US authorities charging Adani and his close associates of allegedly paying bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raises.

The Adani group has denied all allegations of wrongdoing and went about refocusing its efforts, resulting in most of its stocks recovering and the group posting record earnings.

"In terms of consolidated numbers, at the group-level, revenues grew by 7 per cent, EBITDA by 8.2 per cent, and our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio remained healthy at 2.6x. Total revenues were Rs 2,71,664 crore and our adjusted EBITDA was Rs 89,806 crore," he said.

Adani, Asia's second-richest person behind Mukesh Ambani, said the objective of his conglomerate is not to just build businesses -- it is to create new possibilities. "Not just to serve markets -- but to serve our nation's destiny. Not to chase valuation. But build valuation -- brick by brick." "And in this context, our capital investment across businesses is set to break all records. We anticipate an annual capex spend of USD 15–20 billion for the next 5 years. These are not just investments in our group, but investments in the possibilities for doing our part to build India's infrastructure," he said.

Talking of business performance, Adani said the group's electricity generation unit, Adani Power crossed 100 billion units of generation and is on track to reach 31 GW capacity by 2030.

Renewable energy arm, Adani Green is building the world's largest renewable energy park at Khavda in Gujarat with a target of 50 GW by 2030.

"In fact, when we combine our thermal, renewable and pumped hydro generation capacities, we expect to have a 100 GW capacity by 2030," he said.

The group's electricity transmission unit, Adani Energy Solutions handled smart metering, high-voltage links and secured close to Rs 44,000 crore in transmission orders and is executing Rs 13,600 crore worth of smart metering projects.

Clean energy vertical, Adani New Industries is building electrolysers and factories to produce 10 GW of solar modules by the next financial year.

While Adani Ports handled a record 450 million tonnes of cargo, natural resources produced by the group touched a record 47 million tonnes of coal and iron ore and is on track to achieve over 30 per cent growth by FY26.

"Two and a half years ago, when we acquired Holcim's India cement business, we had made a bold commitment -- to double our capacity to 140 million tonnes per annum by FY27-28. Today, I am proud to share that we have already achieved 72 per cent of that target and crossed the 100 million tonnes milestone," he said.

Adani Airports handled record 94 million passengers in FY25 and has completed the first test flight at the greenfield Navi Mumbai Airport, which will open later this year with an initial passenger capacity of 20 million.

Adani said his group has launched gigawatt-scale renewable energy-powered data centre campuses across multiple states. On city gas business, Adani Total Gas now serves 1 million piped natural gas customers and runs 3,400 EV charging stations across 22 states.

"But perhaps our most transformative project is unfolding in Dharavi -- Asia's largest slum, now being reimagined as India's most ambitious urban rehabilitation project," he said. "Over 1 million people will move from narrow lanes to a township that will feature spacious layouts, dual toilets, open spaces, schools, hospitals, transit hubs and parks." Stating that a nation's future is not written in policy documents, he said it is written in the risks its entrepreneurs dare to take.

"And history should remember us -- not for the size of our balance sheet, but for the strength of our backbone. Not for the markets we entered, but for the storms we handled and emerged stronger. For it is easy to lead in sunshine, but true leadership is forged in the face of crisis," he added. PTI ANZ ANZ TRB