• Congress said LIC and SBI have lost over ₹78,000 crore in market capitalization of their shares due to risk taking in Adani group
Amid allegations of billionaire Gautam Adani's fast-growing wealth by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, TMC leader Mahua Moitra has shared old tweets and letters, and wrote 'I Told You So'.
Moitra has frequently attacked the Adani Group on social media platforms, questioning the projects, source of income, and the highly inflated share price of the group.
She has repeatedly demanded SEBI to initiate an inquiry.
Besides this, the Lok Sabha MP also hit out at the Modi government for its cordial relations with the richest man in Asia. PM Modi and Adani belong to the same state and hence, their relationship has always come under intense scrutiny by the opposition parties.
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) January 28, 2023
Now as the Hindberg report has courted controversy, several opposition parties have sought answers from the Center on Adani's assets.
The Congress has also questioned the "silence" of the government and the finance minister. The opposition party said that LIC and SBI lost "over ₹78,000 crore" in market capitalization of their shares due to risk aversion in the Adani group.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala claimed that LIC and SBI continue to invest in the Adani group even after the Hindenburg research report alleged manipulation of share prices and financial impropriety by the group.
"LIC is public money! After the Hindenburg report, the value of LIC investment in Adani Group shares has fallen from ₹77,000 crore to ₹53,000 crore - a loss of ₹23,500 crore.
Surjewala asked, "Besides, LIC shares have lost ₹22,442 crore. Why is LIC still investing ₹300 crore in Adani Group?"
The Congress leader claimed that after the publication of the report, there has been a huge drop of ₹54,618 crore in the market cap of SBI shares.
In addition, SBI and other banks have a credit exposure of ₹81,200 crore to the Adani group, he claimed.
"The question is why SBI Employees Pension Fund and SBI Life are still investing Rs 225 crore in the Adani group," Surjewala asked.
Starting out as a commodities trader, Adani built his business empire from scratch. He became the third richest person in the world according to Forbes with a net worth of $127 billion, behind only Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk. Married to dentist Priti Adani, he has two sons, Karan and Jeet, both involved in the company's business.
Despite his wealth, the 60-year-old, who comes from a middle-class textile family, was little known compared to other billionaires in a country where many inherited their wealth.
As Adani's empire grew, shares of seven of his listed companies soared - in some cases over 1,500% in the last three years amid aggressive expansion. He denied allegations by Modi's detractors that he has benefited from his close ties.
In a 2014 interview with Reuters, when asked if he was friends with Modi, Adani said he had friends from across the political spectrum, but stayed away from politics.
He has said that no political leader is behind his success and when asked about Modi's use of Adani corporate planes during the interview, Adani said that Modi "pays in full".
In recent years, the $220 billion Adani Group empire has attracted foreign investment – for example, France's TotalEnergies partnered with Adani last year to develop the world's largest green hydrogen ecosystem.
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