Kathmandu. US newspapers have published sensational reports that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning to provide a multi-billion dollar loan from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to his businessman Gautam Adani.
According to a Washington Post investigation, the Narendra Modi government has hatched a secret scheme to get money from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to Adani, who is in debt.
The Post report revealed that in May 2025, India’s Union Ministry of Finance, its Department of Financial Services, state-owned LIC, and the Government Planning Commission had jointly developed a USD 3.9 billion investment strategy to support Gautam Adani’s business empire. The move comes as several foreign banks in the US and Europe are reluctant to lend more to the group following allegations of corruption and fraud.
Documents obtained by The Post show that the plan came to fruition when Adani Ports issued a $585 million bond for current debt refinancing.
The Washington Post reported that the plan was successful the same month that Adani’s port subsidiary was supposed to raise about $585 million by issuing bonds to refinance existing debt. On May 30, the Adani Group announced that all the debentures had been purchased by a single investor — LIC. “
According to another online newspaper, The Wire’s coverage of the findings, the stated purpose of the proposal was to “signal confidence” in Adani and attract more investors, even though the group’s debt had risen by 20 percent last year and it was facing continued scrutiny by U.S. authorities. The U.S. Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Adani and his associates with a multi-billion dollar bribery and fraud scheme involving $250 million in illegal payments to secure false statements and energy deals. Adani, however, has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless”.
However, analysts interviewed by The Post warned that the LIC — which safeguards the savings of millions of low-income Indians — is exposed to significant financial risk through such concentrated investments.
“It seemed unusual for LIC to invest such a huge amount of money in a private corporate entity,” independent analyst Heminder Hazari was quoted as saying by the newspaper. No one but the government will be able to rescue them. “
Opposition leaders have long pointed to Modi’s close association with Gautam Adani as evidence of crony capitalism. The Adani Group has dismissed such claims as a “conspiracy against India”.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, in a series of posts on X, slammed the Modi government, saying: “All patriots and all media houses — how to get some attention and coverage on how the Rs 30,000 crore Indian taxpayer’s money was used as Adani’s piggy bank in courtesy of the finance minister? … The Modi government has to provide financial support to Gautam Adani. The people of India have to protect him from being detained. “
Meanwhile, the Adani Group, in a response to The Washington Post, “categorically denies” any role in the government’s decision, calling the claims of political bias “baseless” and claiming that the development of the proposal “predates Modi’s national leadership”.
The Post also reported that Ravi Nair, a freelance journalist who co-authored the investigation, is currently facing a defamation lawsuit filed by the Adani Group for previous investigative news and related interviews published in Frontline magazine.
