Not LIC, but US life insurers lead major investments in Adani Group firms: Report

In June 2025, a month after Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) invested USD 570 million (Rs 5,000 crore) in Adani Ports & SEZ, US-based Athene Insurance led a USD 750 million (Rs 6,650 crore) debt investment in Adani’s Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), according to a PTI report.

Several prominent global insurers joined the investment.

Apollo Global Management, Athene’s parent company, made two investments in companies controlled by Gautam Adani.

In a June 23 statement, it said that its managed funds, affiliates, and other long-term investors had completed a USD 750 million “investment grade rated financing” for MIAL.

It added that this marked Apollo’s second major financing for the airport, following an earlier one that helped the company deleverage and enhance operational flexibility.

Adani Green Energy Ltd also raised around USD 250 million from global lenders, including DBS Bank, DZ Bank, Rabobank, and Bank SinoPac Co Ltd.

According to an August report by S&P Global Ratings, the Adani Group signed new credit facilities exceeding USD 10 billion in the first half of 2025 across its port, energy, and infrastructure businesses, including Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy, Adani Enterprises, and Adani Energy Solutions.

LIC rebuts ‘false’ report

On Saturday, LIC dismissed the report as “false, baseless and far from the truth,” reiterating that all its investments in Adani Group firms were made independently and in strict compliance with board-approved policies after “detailed due diligence.”

A Washington Post report alleged that Indian officials had influenced the insurer’s investment decisions amid a period of global investor hesitation following a report by, now non-existent, US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research.

“Department of Financial Services (in the Union Finance Ministry) or any other body does not have any role in such (investment) decisions,” the insurer clarified in an earlier statement.

Over the years, LIC’s investments across top Indian companies have grown tenfold — from Rs 1.56 lakh crore in 2014 to Rs 15.6 lakh crore — reflecting its strong fund management practices.

Its exposure to the Adani Group remains under 2 percent of the conglomerate’s Rs 2.6 lakh crore total debt.

LIC’s largest holdings are in other major companies — 6.94 percent in Reliance Industries Ltd (Rs 1.33 lakh crore), 15.86 percent in ITC Ltd (Rs 82,800 crore), 9.59 percent in SBI (Rs 79,361 crore), and 4.89 percent in HDFC Bank (Rs 64,725 crore). It also holds 5.02 percent of TCS worth Rs 5.7 lakh crore.

Adani Group, ex-LIC chief respond

Former LIC chairman Siddhartha Mohanty maintained that “the government never interferes directly or indirectly in any investment decision of LIC.”

Adani Group CFO Jugeshinder Singh, in a sharp retort to the publication, said, “Washington Post writing about finance is like Jeff Bezos and I writing about how to have a full head of hair – 100 percent moronic.” Both Singh and Bezos are bald.

“As Wolfgang Pauli said, ‘It is not even wrong,’” he added in a post on X.

Adani officials also said the report contained “factual errors,” noting there was no refinancing requirement as claimed. Instead, the group had launched a USD 450 million buyback in June to prepay debt.

Global interest in Indian infrastructure

Analysts point out that global insurers are increasingly investing in infrastructure projects due to their steady returns, with India’s rapidly expanding infrastructure sector — led by the Adani Group — attracting significant international interest.