NEW DELHI, Feb 8 (NNN-PTI) – The Indian government, yesterday said, the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), holds less than one percent stake in both equity and debt in the Adani group, whose shares tumbled, following U.S. short-seller’s critical report on its businesses.
The information was given by junior Minister of Finance, Bhagwat Karad, at the upper house of the Indian parliament.
LIC has issued a press release, saying, its total holding under equity and debt is 4.34 billion U.S. dollars as of Dec 31, 2022, under the Adani group, the minister said in a statement.
Opposition parties have cornered the government, and staged protests in parliament, demanding a discussion on the situation arising out of the allegations against the Adani group, and the fall in its stocks, in which several public sector banks and LIC hold stakes.
The Adani group faced a rout of share prices of its listed firms, after U.S.-based short-seller, Hindenburg Research, accused an Indian multinational conglomerate of “brazen” stock market manipulation and accounting fraud, and claimed its companies had “substantial debt” which put the entire group on a “precarious financial footing.”
The report accused Adani of “pulling the largest con in corporate history.”
The Adani group has dismissed the allegations as malicious and untrue.
Opposition parties are seeking a joint parliamentary committee probe, or a day-to-day judicial probe, headed by a Supreme Court panel, into Hindenburg Research’s report on Adani.– NNN-PTI
