Indian banks, which have lent about Rs 80,000 crore to the Adani group, rushed to allay investors’ concern over their exposure to the conglomerate after a report by US-based investment research firm, Hindenburg Research alleged that the group was engaged in “a brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme”.

“We have been getting calls from investors over the weekend asking about the exposure. We have compiled the data on our loan exposure and other investments and have shared the details with them,” said an official from a large public sector bank.

According to bank officials, international rating agencies have also asked for information from banks on their exposure to the Adani group. Bankers said most of their exposures are based on the cash flows of Adani group companies, and that there is no immediate reason to worry though they are monitoring the situation.

According to a CLSA report, Indian banks have around Rs 80,000 crore exposure in Adani Group, which is 38 per cent of the group’s total debt.

Punjab National Bank, a large state-owned bank, said on Monday that it has an exposure of Rs 7,000 crore to the group. Its MD & CEO, Atul Kumar Goel, said total exposure includes investment of Rs 42 crore and that the bank is keeping a close watch on the situation, news agency PTI reported.

Bankers said investors are worried about banks’ non-fund exposure to Adani. Some of the bank’s non-fund exposure is as much as 40 per cent of total exposure.

Following the Hindenburg report, Adani group stocks were hammered last Thursday and Friday. Shares of some companies in the group tanked further on Monday despite a detailed rebuttal by Adani late Sunday evening.

The stock of Adani Enterprise, whose follow-on public offer opens for retail investors on Tuesday, ended in the green at the stock exchanges, yet much below the public offer price band.

CLSA said that the ballpark exposure of private banks to the group is 0.3 per cent of FY24 loans and 1.5 per cent of FY24 net worth. “For PSU banks, the exposure is 0.7 per cent of FY24 loans and 6 per cent of FY24 net worth.”

The top five Adani group companies, including Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Power, Adani Green, and Adani Transmission have a consolidated debt of Rs 2.1 trillion as of FY22, according to the report. Of the total debt of Rs 2.1 trillion, bank debt – term loans, working capital loans, and other facilities – constitutes about 38 per cent of the group’s total debt.

JP Morgan said in a report that Adani’s capital expenditure plan, which is high, needs monitoring.

“We note that while the group’s disclosed Debt/EBITDA metrics look reasonable, the planned capex looks high at over $120 billion over the next 5-10 years. Financing of the same remains a monitorable,” the note said.

State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender, had said its exposure to Adani was well below the Reserve Bank of India’s norms on Large Exposure Framework and all exposure is secured by cash generating assets.

SBI said as a matter of policy, it keeps a watch on all its exposures to large groups and will take measures from time to time basis its assessment and that the Indian banks’ exposure to Adani group as a percentage of their total debt has been declining over the last 2-3 years.