'Decisions taken with integrity, due diligence': LIC denies Washington Post report on Adani investments

Investments in Adani group companies were made independently and in accordance with its board-approved policies, following detailed due diligence, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) said on Saturday.

In a post on X, LIC wrote, "LIC denies false reports by The Washington Post, reaffirming all investments are made with integrity and due diligence."

It posted a letter titled - 'Rebuttal to the article of The Washington Post' which said, "The allegations leveled by The Washington Post that the investment decisions of LIC are influenced by external factors are false, baseless and far from truth. No such document or plan as alleged in the article has ever been prepared by LIC into Adani group of companies."

"The investment decisions are taken by LIC independently as per Bpard approved policies after detailed due diligence. Department of Financial Services or any other body does not have any role in such decisions. LIC has ensued highest standards of due diligence and all its investment decisions have been undertaken in complaince with extant policies. provisions in the Acts and regulatory guidelines, in the best interest of all its stakeholders."

The letter further read, "These 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 of India."

LIC's response came after a report in The Washington Post alleged that officials orchestrated a plan to steer LIC into investing in the Adani group earlier this year, when the ports-to-energy conglomerate was facing a debt pile and scrutiny in the US.

LIC's investment of $570 million in Adani Ports in May 2025 was also highlighted in the report.

Congress demanded a PAC probe as general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the savings of LIC's 30 crore policyholders were 'systematically misused' to benefit the Adani Group.

Ramesh said that disturbing revelations emerged in the media about how the 'Modani joint venture systematically misused the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the savings of its 30 crore policyholders'.

The Opposition's attack came after The Washington Post, citing internal documents, reported that Indian officials drafted and pushed through a proposal to invest about Rs 33,000 crores of LIC funds in various Adani Group companies in May 2025.

Taking a dig at the government, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the real beneficiaries of the government's Direct Benefit Transfer initiative "are not the common people of India, but Modi's best friends".

"Does the average salaried middle-class person, who pays every penny of their LIC premium, even know that Modi is using his savings to bail out Adani? Isn't this a breach of trust? Isn't it loot?" Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.