State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India’s exposure in the Adani Group, as on date, is 0.975% of its total assets under management at book value, Minister of state for finance Bhagwat Karad informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. LIC’s total AUM are over Rs 41.66 trillion as on September 30, 2022.
Citing an earlier press release of January 30, 2023, Karad said LIC’s total holding under equity and debt was Rs 35,917.31 crore as on December 31, 2022 under Adani group of companies. The total purchase value of equity, purchased over the last many years, under all the Adani group companies was Rs 30,127 crore. Its market value was Rs 56,142 crore as on January 27, he said.
The minister was responding to a question by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi on the stake held by LIC in the Adani Group. “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,” Karad said, adding that LIC has also confirmed that most of the information with regard to its investments is already available in the public domain.
Adani Group firms have been in the spotlight following a scathing report on the conglomerate by US short-seller Hindenburg Research. The group has 10 listed companies. The life insurance behemoth LIC is the largest investor in the country, there have been concerns over its exposure to the Group.