India's Adani says ministry probing accounts of its two Mumbai airports

India's Adani says ministry probing accounts of its two Mumbai airports

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India's Adani says ministry probing accounts of its two Mumbai airports

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BENGALURU (Reuters) - Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS), backed by billionaire Gautam Adani, said on Friday that India's corporate affairs ministry was investigating the accounts of the group's two airports in the country's financial capital of Mumbai.

It said the ministry had sought information and documents on the airports – Mumbai International Airport Ltd and Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd – for financial years 2017-18 to 2021-22.

The company said a "significant part of the information/documents being sought" pertains to the period before it acquires the two airports which was completed during the financial year 2021-22.

Adani owns and operates seven airports across India, six of which it won as part of the government's first privatisation drive in 2019. It is also building a new airport in Navi Mumbai, on the outskirts of the financial capital.

Adani Group did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for further details.

The investigation is the latest in a string of troubles for the conglomerate since a U.S. short-seller earlier this year accused it of improperly using offshore tax havens and stock manipulation.

A probe by India's markets regulator into those allegations has "drawn a blank", a court-appointed panel said in May.

However, Reuters reported last week that the financial regulator would tell the country's top court why it paused, then resumed investigations into the group after a tip in 2014 amid questions around regulatory delays.