LIC's investment in Adani firms loses value amid stock market rout

Adani group stocks have collectively lost more than Rs 11 lakh crore since the Hindenburg report triggered a rout, and they continue to bleed. As investors lose money, the exposure of Life Insurance Corporation, Indian banks and Australian retirement funds to the conglomerate have caused concern. With Adani's crash refusing to slow down, LIC's investment in its group firms turned negative, as its principal amount in them dropped.

According to Moneycontrol, the value of the investment by India's top insurer in the port to power conglomerate, has gone down from Rs 30,127 crore to Rs 30,000 crore. When the Hindenburg report had just surfaced around January 27, the value of LIC's investment was Rs 56,142 crore, which was down from Rs 62,550 crore in December 2022.

This is because overall, Adani's 10 listed stocks have together lost more than 50 per cent of their value. The worst crash came on Wednesday, when Adani investors lost Rs 50,000 crore over allegations of the firm manipulating Wikipedia articles. All attempts at countering Hindenburg allegations in the media haven't delivered any respite for Adani, which reportedly faces SEBI scrutiny over its debt.

After tumbling from his position among the top three wealthiest men, Gautam Adani is also close to dropping out of the top 30 as he has reached the 29th position. The stock market rout for Adani had also affected the position of Indian indices among the world's top five.