Adani and LIC
Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) investments in Adani group companies may be in the headlines, but recent data shows that some of the biggest investments in entities controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani have come not from the government insurer, but from major US and global insurance companies.
In June 2025, a month after Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) invested US$570 million (Rs 5,000 crore) in Adani Ports & SEZ, US-based Athene Insurance led a debt investment of Rs 6,650 crore ($750 million) in Adani’s Mumbai International Airport, joining several leading international insurance companies, PTI reported.
Athene’s parent company Apollo Global Management said in a statement on June 23 that its managed funds, associates and other long-term investors have completed an investment grade rated financing of $750 million for Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL). This was the second major financing by Apollo for MIAL.
Other fund raising included Adani Green Energy Ltd raising about $250 million from a consortium of global lenders including DBS Bank, DZ Bank, Rabobank and Bank Sinopec Co Ltd. According to an August report by S&P Global Ratings, the group signed new credit facilities totaling more than US$10 billion across the port unit (APSEZ), renewable energy unit (AGEL), master company (Adani Enterprises Ltd) and power transmission unit (Adani Energy Solutions Ltd) in the first half of the year.
The Washington Post report claims that government officials influenced LIC’s investment decisions amid hesitancy of global investors. Due to this, LIC’s investment in Adani Group came into limelight. On Saturday, LIC termed the report as false, baseless and far from the truth and said its investment in Adani group companies was made independently and after detailed due diligence as per the policies approved by its board of directors.
This is how I invested
India’s largest insurance company has, over the years, taken investment decisions in various companies based on fundamentals and detailed due diligence. Its investment value in India’s top 500 companies has increased 10 times since 2014, from Rs 1.56 lakh crore to Rs 15.6 lakh crore, reflecting strong fund management. Its investment in Adani Group is less than two percent of the group’s total debt of Rs 2.6 lakh. Moreover, Adani is not LIC’s largest holding. Reliance Industries Limited, ITC and Tata Group.
LIC holds four per cent (worth Rs 60,000 crore) shares of Adani, while it holds 6.94 per cent (Rs 1.33 lakh crore) shares in Reliance, 15.86 per cent (Rs 82,800 crore) shares in ITC Ltd, 4.89 per cent (Rs 64,725 crore) shares in HDFC Bank and 9.59 per cent (Rs 79,361 crore) shares in SBI. LIC holds 5.02 percent stake in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which is worth Rs 5.7 lakh crore.
CFO’s statement came
Former LIC Chairman Siddharth Mohanty said that the government does not interfere directly or indirectly in any investment decision of LIC. Jugeshinder Singh, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Adani Group, took a dig at the publication and said that Washington Post writing about finance is like me and Jeff Bezos writing about how to keep a full head of hair. 100% stupidity. Adani officials said the article contained factual errors and suggested there was no need for refinancing. Instead, the company launched a US$450 million repurchase program in June to prepay debt. Analysts say global insurers are increasingly investing in infrastructure assets due to stable returns, and India’s fast-growing infrastructure sector, led by the Adani Group, is attracting keen international interest.
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