Even as the Adani group grapples with the fallout from allegations by US retailer Hindenburg, the group that won the coal mine in the auction came under fire on Tuesday.
Last month, Adani picked up four coal blocks during the commercial auction organized by the government, of which the block named Uttar Paschim of Madheri saw only one other bidder, Cavil Mining Pvt Ltd, informed Scroll on Tuesday.
Cavill Mining’s owner is also the main promoter of EdCorp Enterprises, a small privately held company that Hindenburg alleges was used to funnel funds between Adani companies.
The Hindenburg report, released on 24 January, sent the value of Adani firms’ shares plummeting by more than $100 billion and forced it to scale back some of its aggressive expansion plans.
According to corporate filings, Edicorp and Cavil Mining share the same Ahmedabad location and promoter Utkarsh Shah.
In the recently released biography of Adani Group founder Gautam Adani, Shah appears as a friend who can’t keep up with him in Sudoku games.
His recently established business, Kavil Mining, with a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh and no prior mining experience, entered into a competition with an Adani affiliate, MH Natural Resources Pvt Ltd, for mining rights in the northwest of the Madheri block. was , the report said. The block, located in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, has 200 million tonnes of coal.
Cavill Mining’s participation ensured that the auction for North West of Madheri was successfully completed. According to Ministry of Coal rules, an auction of a commercial mine is only valid in the first attempt if there are at least two bidders.
Meanwhile, another report said that a joint venture of the Adani Group is in talks with about half a dozen banks for a loan of about $220 million, which was followed by a damning report this year by short-seller Hindenburg. It will be the first time since doing.
Data center provider AdaniConneX, a joint venture with Virginia-based EdgeConneX, will use the funds for capital expenditures, with a five-year term under discussion, Bloomberg reported. The report said that the loan could be signed in the next few weeks.