Why Adani Group’s troubles will reverberate across India

“I like challenges where you feel you are part of nation-building. I could have created many different businesses but I feel more satisfied when I create something that can be part of the India journey,” Gautam Adani told India Today, a weekly news magazine, in 2011. The journey of Mr Adani’s conglomerate, Adani Group, took an unexpected turn in late January, when an investment firm’s critique of its finances caused the share prices of its various listed businesses to plunge. Given how closely Adani Group is associated with the government of Narendra Modi, and his ambitions for the economy, many observers are asking whether policymakers, too, could be steering in the wrong direction.