‘We do not need lower standards but wider lenses’: Gautam Adani calls for new credit framework

Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, has urged rating agencies to adopt a broader approach to assessing infrastructure, arguing that conventional credit models may not capture the wider economic and strategic value created by integrated infrastructure platforms.

“We do not need lower standards but we need wider lenses,” Adani said, calling for dynamic models that can recognise ecosystem multipliers and strategic resilience. He was speaking on Monday, August 31, 2026, while urging CareEdge Group to develop what he described as the world’s first comprehensive Credit Framework for Integrated Platform Infrastructure.

Adani said the proposed framework should go beyond assessing an infrastructure asset on a standalone basis and capture its wider economic benefits and the additional value created around it. He stressed that the proposal was not about easier ratings or less scrutiny, but about developing models capable of distinguishing between unviable ambition and infrastructure platforms whose economic and strategic value extends beyond conventional measures.

Traditional credit models need to evolve

Adani said many analytical frameworks were developed when infrastructure evolved incrementally, demand was more visible and assets could be assessed in isolation, often through single-asset discounted cash-flow models.

He distinguished between three types of infrastructure: replacement infrastructure, where established approaches work well; growth infrastructure, where assessments need to capture ecosystem effects and multiplier value; and “platform infrastructure”, where multiple layers combine to create new demand, new ecosystems and new capabilities.

Mundra, Vizhinjam and Khavda

Adani cited Mundra port in Gujarat as an example of platform infrastructure. What began as a port developed into an interconnected network spanning rail, logistics, power and industrial activity.

“If we build only for the demand we can see today, India will always be late for the opportunities of tomorrow,” he said.

At Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala, Adani said the value extends beyond port capacity. India had for decades transhipped container cargo through Singapore, Dubai and Colombo, with consequences for money, time and strategic autonomy. While conventional credit models correctly assess execution risk, he said strategic infrastructure also requires recognition of the economic value of sovereign resilience.

He also pointed to the 30-GW renewable energy development at Khavda, which brings together energy, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and digital infrastructure.

“Rating frameworks often measure individual assets. But we must realise that the real value in today’s age is being created at the intersection, where ‘energy + data + manufacturing’ converge,” Adani said.