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LIC’s debt exposure in Adani firms decreased marginally: Centre in Parliament
The amount of money loaned by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to Adani Group companies reduced marginally from ₹6,347 crore at the end of last year to ₹6,182 crore as on March 5, the Union government told Parliament, responding to a series of questions from MPs on the nature of risk that problems in the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate poses to government companies
The amount of money loaned by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to Adani Group companies reduced marginally from ₹6,347 crore at the end of last year to ₹6,182 crore as on March 5, the Union government told Parliament, responding to a series of questions from MPs on the nature of risk that problems in the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate poses to government companies.
In Lok Sabha, the government filed a set of six responses related to the Adani Group, the exposure of government-run companies to it, and the nature of allegations and the impact on investors, public sector companies and the general public.
The submission came at a time the opposition has sought to press the government to clear the air on how significant the impact on public sector companies is, with fears that loans given to and equity investments made in Adani firms could be in jeopardy.
On the equity question, the government pointed to a January 30 press release by the insurance company, which said that it had made equity investments worth a little over ₹30,000 crore and as on January 30, the value stood around ₹36,000 crore, which amounted to a little less than 1% of its total market investments.
The response noted that while Adani Group’s nine listed companies lost 60% of their market value between January 24 and March 1, but there was no “significant impact at the systemic level”. The broader NSE index, the Nifty 50, declined by around 4.5% during the same period, it added.
The government also said that it had not initiated probe of its own against the company, which has been accused of stock price manipulation and fraud – charges the company has denied. In a separate question, it said a probe was being carried out by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the markets regulator.
“Its (Sebi’s) mandate is to conduct investigations into any alleged violations of its regulations by any market entity. It is, accordingly, undertaking investigation into the market allegations against the Adani Group of companies,” it said.
In a separate question still, the government said the Sebi probe followed a Supreme Court order.
In another response, the Union finance ministry – which sent most of the responses as having been signed by the minister of state for finance, Pankaj Chaudhary – said some investigations by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) pertaining to some Adani companies’ imports had been completed and a report submitted to “relevant judicial authorities” and one, relating to imports of coal from Indonesia, was pending.
