Balasubramanyam Danturti, Group Head, Investor Relations of Adani Listed companies, has been on ‘gardening leave’ since December 2022, amid the Hindenburg report that caused a roller-coaster ride for the shares of listed entities of Adani group. As per the report of Fortune India, the group head of investor relations has been on leave since the beginning of December and he is due to retire in June, 2023.
In the world of Human resource, gardening leave implies an employee’s absence from work while being fully paid for the duration. For layman, this is typically done to prevent such an employee from having any influence on the organization or accessing confidential information during the tenure.
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The Adani Group’s financial health has been under the scrutiny after it witnessed massive stock selloffs since the Hindenburg Research released its report accusing the group of brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud schemes over the course of decades.
Following the report on January 24, 2023 Adani Group stocks like Adani power, Adani Green, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Power were locked in a lower circuits. Hindenburg report has taken the entire nation by shock and Adani Group faced flak by the opposition government for the wrong doing. Adani group’s gross debt has grown from Rs 1.11 lakh crore in 2019 to Rs 2.21 lakh crore in 2023, as per the presentation made by the investors last month.
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As per the Fortune India report, Balasubramanyam’s official email account is active and is responsive to emails. Investors’ requests are also getting forwarded to the Group’s Finance department through his official email.
As per the corporate finance institute, the prime job of the IR head is developing investors confidence and belief in the company’s vision and strategy for delivering shareholder value.
Fortune India reported, Danturti has been sending a standard text message to all the frantic investors worn-out by the stress of the rocky stock prices, who are reaching out to him saying he has been on a ‘gardening’ leave from December 2022.
Danturti shared the same text message with Fortune India via WhatsApp: “I am out of system and no more a connect of Adani. Please reach out to Robbie or Anupam Mishra directly. It had been wonderful working with you and look forward to my next innings post retirement on June 30, 2023. Have a Great day.”
Fortune India report also mentioned that Danturti worked as a Head of Investor relations for Jindal Steel and Power between December 2013 and March 2016 and BGR Energy Systems between February 2011 and December 2013. He also had a long stint of 24 years with Union Bank Of India.