The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Saturday dismissed a Washington Post report that claimed the Modi government had directed the state-owned insurer to invest $3.9 billion (around ₹32,000 crore) in the Adani Group at a time when the conglomerate was struggling under heavy debt.
Both LIC and the Adani Group have dismissed the claims as “false and baseless.”
The American daily’s report alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration supported “his logtimer ally” Gautam Adani during the group’s financial crisis.
The report also noted, “Internal documents obtained exclusively by The Washington Post” showed how a “larger plan by Indian authorities to direct taxpayer money to a conglomerate owned by one of the country’s most prominent and politically well-connected billionaires. It is a vivid illustration of Adani’s clout within the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his longtime ally.”
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The Post report triggered a wave of criticism online and renewed opposition allegations about the proximity between Modi’s government and the Adani Group.
However, LIC rejected the claims in an official statement, calling them “false, baseless, and far from the truth.”
“No such document or plan as alleged in the article has ever been prepared by LIC, which creates a roadmap for infusing funds by LIC into Adani group of companies,” the insurer said in its statement.
“The investment decisions are taken by LIC independently as per Board approved policies after detailed due diligence. Department of Financial Services or any other body does not have any role in such decisions. LIC has ensured 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.”
Calling the Washington Post report an attempt to malign LIC’s reputation, the insurer said the “purported statements in the article appear to have been made 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.”
Notably, the Adani group has already filed a defamation report against one of the co-writers, just last September. The lawsuit was filed against the investigative journalist for penning an article for the Indian magazine Frontline.
The Committee to Protect Journalists and some other media rights organisations strongly criticised this move and appealed to the Central Government about this matter.
Notably, a Delhi court previously requested several journalists and groups to ensure that they can ascertain the legitimacy of any news concerning Adani Enterprises before releasing it, because any unconfirmed news would compromise the group's overall reputation.
