INDIAN conglomerate Adani Group, owned by billionaire Gautam Adani, said on Thursday (Jan 19) that it had no plans to enter the country’s telecommunications sector.

Adani, dubbed the world’s third-richest man by Forbes, has been diversifying his empire from ports to energy, and now media.

However, the Adani Group has stayed away from India’s telecoms sector, where Jio – owned by rival Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries – is a dominant player. It rose to the top by offering low-cost services.

“We have no plans or ambitions in telecoms,” Jugeshinder Singh, Adani Group’s chief financial officer, told reporters in Mumbai.

Adani Data Networks, a unit of Adani Enterprises, purchased airwaves worth nearly US$27 million in the country’s 5G auction last year.

However, the company said at the time that it did not plan to offer consumer services, and was instead aiming to enter the private 5G network space.

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The conglomerate’s aggressive expansion into sectors such as cement and healthcare has also raised concerns over its elevated debt levels, while its large promoter shareholding has also come under scrutiny.

Its proposed US$2.5 billion follow-on public offering, which launches later this month, will be used for capital expenditure and to pay off debt at its units, the company said. REUTERS