Made prudent investments in Adani Group firms, says LIC

New Delhi, February 7

The government on Tuesday said state-owned LIC has said it strictly follows the statutory framework and regulations while making investments even as shares of some Adani Group companies recovered on the back of decent quarterly results from two of them.

“LIC has informed that all its investments are carried out strictly as per the statutory framework of the Insurance Act, 1938 and the IRDAI Investment Regulations, 2016 and are guided by a detailed governance mechanism,’’ Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad told Rajya Sabha in a written reply. Fitch Ratings felt the banks’ exposure to the Adani Group is “insufficient in itself to present a substantial risk to the banks’ standalone credit profiles.”

Last week, LIC had said it has invested Rs 35,917.31 crore in Adani Group’s debt and equity securities. It claimed that the amount is 0.975% of the insurer’s total assets under management of more than Rs 41.66 lakh crore.

Tuesday saw most shares of many Adani companies move northward even as the National Stock Exchange fixed the circuit-breaker for Adani Green and Adani Transmission at 5%.

In all, eight companies gained and two lost. Shares of Adani Enterprises ended 15.28% higher at Rs 1,813, before gaining as much as 20% intra-day. Adani Ports also edged up almost 9.5% intra-day before closing at Rs 596, up almost 2%. Adani Wilmar gained 5% and Adani Transmission went up by 3.5%. But Adani Green, Adani Total and Adani Power were down by 5% each. Companies such as ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV also gained up to 5%.

Analysts felt one reason for the rise in shares was the Adani announcement about its plan to pre-pay $1.114 million for the release of pledged shares of its firms ahead of their maturity in September 2024 although one of the companies — Adani Green — remained in the red.

Smart recovery

• Tuesday saw most shares of Adani Group companies move northward even as the National Stock Exchange fixed the circuit-breaker for Adani Green and Adani Transmission at 5%
• Shares of Adani Enterprises ended 15.28% higher at Rs 1,813, before gaining as much as 20% intra-day
• Adani Ports also edged up almost 9.5% intra-day before closing at Rs 596, up almost 2%
• Adani Wilmar gained 5% and Adani Transmission went up by 3.5%. Companies such as ACC, Ambuja Cements and NDTV also gained by up to 5%