Rajesh Exports Under SEBI Scanner, ₹15.15 Lakh Crore Revenue Records Questioned As Market Value Drops Below ₹2,800 Crore

Mumbai: Few companies in India embody a contradiction as striking as Rajesh Exports. The Bengaluru-headquartered gold refiner has built a business of extraordinary scale, reporting revenue of Rs 7.79 lakh crore in FY26 — enough to rank it as India's fourth-largest company by sales, behind only Reliance Industries, LIC and Indian Oil. Yet, despite this staggering turnover, the company generated a profit of just Rs 113 crore, earning less than one paisa for every Rs 100 of revenue.

That extraordinary mismatch between size and profitability has now placed Rajesh Exports at the centre of one of the market's most closely watched regulatory investigations.

SEBI's interim order has cast a spotlight on the company's overseas operations, particularly Swiss precious metals refinery Valcambi SA. According to the regulator, Rajesh Exports reported consolidated revenue of Rs 15.44 lakh crore between FY21 and FY25, with Rs 15.18 lakh crore originating from subsidiaries and step-down subsidiaries. However, SEBI has raised questions over records supporting approximately Rs 15.15 lakh crore of those revenues, representing nearly 99.8 percent of subsidiary-linked sales during the period.

At the heart of the dispute lies Valcambi SA, acquired by Rajesh Exports in 2015 and widely portrayed as the group's key operating asset. SEBI noted that while Valcambi has been presented as the primary driver of the group's business, its audited standalone revenue over five years stood at only about Rs 3,027 crore. This stands in sharp contrast to the subsidiary-linked revenues exceeding Rs 15 lakh crore reported at the consolidated level, a gap the regulator has described as difficult to reconcile and independently verify.

The regulator has also pointed out that between 97 percent and 99 percent of Rajesh Exports' consolidated revenue originated from overseas subsidiaries. Several subsidiary financial statements and transaction-level records were allegedly not furnished despite repeated requests, while the forensic auditor reportedly received complete supporting documentation for only a limited portion of sampled transactions.

Rajesh Exports has firmly rejected the allegations. Chairman Rajesh Mehta, who transformed a small jewellery venture started in a Bengaluru garage with his brother Prashant Mehta into a global gold-refining business, maintains that SEBI has misunderstood Valcambi's operating and accounting model. The company has been given 21 days to submit its response.

Meanwhile, investors have delivered their verdict. The stock has slipped below Rs 100, hit its lower circuit limit and seen its market capitalisation shrink to roughly Rs 2,770 crore from nearly Rs 30,000 crore three years ago.

For Rajesh Exports, the challenge now extends far beyond growth. The real test is whether it can restore investor confidence, defend the integrity of its reported numbers and convince regulators that its glittering revenue figures reflect economic reality.