LIC assures govt of strict regulation amid Adani Group imbroglio

Last week, state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) said it has investments of Rs 35,917.31 crore in Adani groups debt and equity securities. The amount is 0.975 per cent of the insurer’s total assets under management of more than Rs 41.66 lakh crore.

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The total purchase value of equity, purchased over the last many years, under all the Adani group companies is Rs 30,127 crore and the market value for the same as at close of market hours on January 27, 2023, was Rs 56,142 crore, as per LIC.

“LIC has informed that all investments of LIC are carried out strictly as per the statutory framework of the Insurance Act, 1938 and the IRDAI Investment Regulations, 2016 and are guided by a detailed governance mechanism,” Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday.

To a question by BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi regarding the stakes held by LIC in various companies of the Adani group, Karad said, “LIC has also confirmed that most of the information with regard to its investments is already available in the public domain”.

Adani group has 10 listed companies.

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Stocks of the Adani group companies have taken a beating, losing billions of dollars in market value, after US-based activist short-seller Hindenburg Research in a report dated January 24 made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group.

The Adani group has dismissed the charges as lies, saying it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements. The opposition, however, has been calling it a big fraud.

Concerns have also been raised in certain quarters about LIC’s investments in Adani group companies.

(With agency inputs)