LIC says it has exposure of Rs 36,474.78 crore to Adani Group

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Monday said it has an exposure of Rs 36,474.78 crore to Adani Group’s debt and equity, and the amount is less than one per cent of the national insurer’s total investments.

LIC’s total assets under management stood at over Rs 41.66 lakh crore as of September 2022.

Also read: LIC continues to bet big on Adani Group amid Hindenburg row

The disclosure by the insurer, which is also the country’s largest domestic institutional investor, comes amid Adani Group stocks taking a beating on the bourses after the short-selling specialist firm Hindenburg Research in a report made a litany of allegations at the Gautam Adani-led group, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation. The allegations have been rejected by the group.

LIC exposure

“Our total holding in the Adani Group companies under equity and debt as on date is Rs 36,474.78 crore. This was Rs 35,917.31 crore as of December 31, 2022. Total purchase value of these equities of the group companies, bought over the past many years, is Rs 30,127 crore and the market value for the same at close of market hours on January 27, 2023, was Rs 56,142 crore,” LIC said in a tweet.

However, the insurer did not disclose about its exposure on an individual company basis. The Adani Group has 10 listed companies.

‘Complying IRDAI norms’

According to LIC, credit ratings of all Adani debt securities held by it are rated AA and above, which is in compliance with the IRDAI investment regulations.

The Hindenburg Research report came two days before Adani Enterprises’ Rs 20,000 crore Follow-on Public Offer (FPO) that opened last week on January 27. The anchor investor’s quota was fully subscribed on January 26.

Anchor investors

LIC invested about Rs 300 crore in buying 9,15,748 shares in the ongoing FPO as an anchor investor. LIC already had 4.23 per cent stake in the company.

Also read: Hindenburg disclosure on Adani Group: Clean-up notice to all Indian companies

In all, 33 institutional investors put in Rs 5,985 crore as anchor investors in Adani Enterprises FPO.

Adani Group’s listed companies have lost more than USD 70 billion in total market capitalisation since the report was published on January 24.

(With Agency inputs)