In an effort to increase its footprint in the media, billionaire Gautam Adani’s organisation has paid an unknown amount to acquire the bulk of the news agency IANS India Pvt Ltd. The company that owns the group’s media business, Adani Enterprises, stated in a regulatory filing that one of its subsidiaries, “AMG Media Networks Ltd, has acquired a 50.50 per cent stake constituting equity shares of IANS India Pvt Ltd.”

The acquisition price was not disclosed by the corporation.

When Adani bought Quintillion Business Media, the company that runs the digital media platform BQ Prime for business and financial news, in March of last year, it made its first step into the media industry. It then acquired roughly 65% of the broadcaster NDTV in December.

These buys were made through AMNL as well.

According to the statement, “AMNL has also signed a shareholders’ agreement with IANS and Sandeep Bamzai, a shareholder of IANS, to record their inter-se rights with respect to IANS.”

IANS’s revenue for the fiscal year 2022–2023 (April 2022 to March 2023) was Rs 11.86 crore.

“All operational and management control of IANS will be with AMNL and AMNL will have the right to appoint all directors of IANS,” the document stated.

“Pursuant to the acquisition as set out above, IANS is now a subsidiary of AMNL.”

Adani, a first-generation businessman, began his career in 1988 as a commodities trader and developed his ventures to become the biggest private infrastructure player in India, owning 13 ports and eight airports. Its operations have expanded over time to include the production of coal, energy distribution, data centres, and, more recently, cement and copper. In order to establish a private network, it even placed a bid and won the 5G telecom spectrum.

The Adani Group recently declared on Thursday that it would investigate some of the untapped industries like storage and paddy processing, increasing its investment in the state by ten times to Rs 8,700 crore. The conglomeration of food and beverage companies Adani Wilmar would also begin operations in the state, according to the organisation.

Managing director of Adani Enterprises and director of agro, oil, and gas Pranav Adani said the group has already spent almost Rs 850 crore in the state while sharing the dais with chief minister Nitish Kumar at the Global Investors’ Summit.

Adani Group would also invest Rs 2,500 crore in Uttarakhand to build aero-city and knowledge cities, install smart electricity metres, and increase the capacity of cement plants. Through its City Gas Joint Venture, the organisation will switch 200 state-run transportation companies to environmentally beneficial CNG.

The business also intends to install smart metres for the Uttarakhand Power Corporation and put up a grinding machine. Additionally, the Adani Group is looking into developing a 1,000-acre plot of land near Pant Nagar for infrastructure projects. While ITC intends to invest Rs 4,000 crore to develop an integrated pulp plant, JSW Energy would invest Rs 15,000 crore for pump storages.