Adani Group firm’s scrip removed by New York stock exchange over ‘business ties with Myanmar military’

Gautam Adani-owned Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has been removed by S&P Dow Jones Indices from its sustainability index, the New York-based stock exchange said in a statement on Monday, as per a Reuters report.

Citing the firm’s business ties with the Myanmar military, responsible for the coup which had overthrown the democratically-elected Aung San Suu Kyi government on February 1, the stock exchange said the APSEZ scrip will be removed from the index on April 15.

APSEZ is building a new container terminal with an investment of $290 million in Yangon on land leased from the military-backed Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).

More than 700 people have been killed in Myanmar since the coup in February and thousands have been arrested by the military.

Right groups have alleged that Adani’s company had agreed to pay millions of dollars to the military-controlled firm, following which the Adani Group on March 31 said that it would consult authorities and stakeholders on its port project in Myanmar regarding human rights violations

In February, the Adani Group had denied paying money to military leaders for approval of the port.

ABC News had alleged that Adani Ports Chief Executive Karan Adani had in July 2019 met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the army chief who led the coup against the elected government. According to ABC, a 2019 United Nations report had also named Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone as one of the companies which have engaged with the military conglomerate in Myanmar.