LIC defends Adani investments after Washington Post Exposé
Hit by the Washington Post expose of investing in scam-hit Adani Group shares, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Saturday said its investments in Adani Group Companies have been made independently and in accordance with its board-approved policies, following detailed due diligence.
On Friday, the Washington Post reported a detailed article, under instructions of India’s Finance Ministry, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), during 2023-25 invested 3.9 billion US dollars in Gautam Adani-linked companies. The investment was in the stock market when Adani was caught for bribery charges in 2023, and due to the bribery charges, US and European bankers have avoided investing in the Group’s shares.
The Washington Post, on October 24, reported that Gautam Adani, facing bribery charges in the USA (for bribing to get a contract in the solar sector in India through its US-linked firms), was supported by LIC, obviously due to his closeness with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during 2023-2024[1]. A day after the media report, LIC said: “Department of Financial Services (in the Union Finance Ministry) or any other body does not have any role in such (investment) decisions,” LIC said in a statement posted on X.
India’s largest insurer has, over the years, made investment decisions across companies based on fundamentals and detailed due diligence. Its investment value in India’s top 500 companies has grown 10-fold since 2014 — from Rs.1.56 lakh crore to Rs.15.6 lakh crore — reflecting strong fund management. “The investment decisions are taken by LIC independently as per Board-approved policies after detailed due diligence,” LIC said.
“LIC has ensured the highest standards of due diligence and all its investment decisions have been undertaken in compliance with extant policies, provisions in the Acts and regulatory guidelines, in the best interest of all its stakeholders.” The LIC statement was in response to a report in The Washington Post alleging officials orchestrated a plan to steer LIC into investing in the Adani Group earlier this year, when the ports-to-energy conglomerate was facing a debt pile and scrutiny in the US.
The report highlighted LIC’s May 2025 investment of USD 570 million in Adani Ports & SEZ (APSEZ), which holds the highest ‘AAA‘ credit rating in India. LIC said the Department of Financial Services or any other body does not have any role in its investment decisions, and the report carries statements “with the intentions to prejudice the well-settled decision-making process of LIC and also to tarnish the reputation and image of LIC and the strong financial sector foundations in India.”
The insurer is not a small, single-purpose fund but India’s largest institutional investor with over Rs.41 lakh crore (over USD 500 billion) in assets. It invests across 351 publicly listed stocks (as of early 2025) spanning virtually every major business group and sector. LIC also holds substantial government bonds and corporate debt. Its portfolio is highly diversified, spreading risk. LIC’s exposure to the Adani Group is less than 2 percent of the conglomerate’s total debt, helmed by India’s second-richest man, Gautam Adani.
Top officials of Adani Group said global investors like US’ largest funds BlackRock, Apollo, Japan’s largest banks Mizuho, MUFG, and Germany’s second largest bank DZ Bank have also invested in Adani debt in recent months, reflecting global confidence in the group. They said Adani’s total debt of Rs.2.6 lakh crore is backed by Rs.90,000 crore in annual operating profit and Rs.60,000 crore in cash. This means Adani could knock off its entire debt in under three years if it paused new infrastructure investments.
On the equity side, Adani is not LIC’s largest holding — Reliance Industries Ltd., ITC, and the Tata Group are. LIC owns 4 percent (Rs.60,000 crore) of Adani stocks versus 6.94 percent (Rs.1.33 lakh crore) in Reliance, 15.86 percent (Rs.82,800 crore) in ITC Ltd, 4.89 percent (Rs.64,725 crore) in HDFC Bank, and 9.59 percent (Rs.79,361 crore) in SBI. LIC holds 5.02 percent of TCS worth Rs.5.7 lakh crore.
The major Opposition party Congress, demanded that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee investigate the Life Insurance Corporation following a Washington Post report that the public sector company made huge investments in Adani Group’s securities after they took a beating in the markets.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, alleged the savings of LIC’s 30 crore policyholders were “systematically misused” to benefit the Adani Group. In a statement, Ramesh said disturbing revelations have just emerged in the media about how the “Modani joint venture systematically misused the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the savings of its 30 crore policyholders”.
Reference:
[1] India’s $3.9 billion plan to help Modi’s mogul ally after U.S. charges – Oct 25, 2025, Archive.today
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