Adani issue: Why LIC, SBI are safe…

The Adani-Hindenburg Research issue has given rise to many doubts among depositors and LIC policyholders. As a media influencer asked, “Why did LIC and State Bank of India pump money into Adani when most private banks and Mutal Funds kept away from it?” 

Not just the media, but political leaders like KT Rama Rao also raised certain questions. “Why do LIC and SBI have such large exposure Rs 77,000 Cr and Rs 80,000 Cr to Adani group stocks?” KTR asked.

The narrative spurned by Opposition parties and a section of the media is giving rise to fears that the financial system is going to suffer from a contagion effect following the erosion of value of the Adani stocks. The Adani Group’s market valuation has been corroded to the tune of lakhs of crores in the past two days.  

If some voices have to be believed, however, there is nothing to worry. “LIC holding (in Adani Group) is market value and not costs! Market value changes constantly, sitting on huge profits! Less than 0.2% of total assets! Loans are exposure of the banking system, not SBI alone, for revenue-earning assets, less than 0.75% of bank loans,” says Mohandas Pai, who has a thorough understanding of the financial system.

Rishabh Mukherjee tweets, “There are rules on how much exposure a bank can have to a single group. As long as SBI isn’t violating these norms, it’s a business decision that the company has taken. LIC doesn’t even have such rules. The government is not a player here.”

On balance, it doesn’t look like the Adani fiasco is going to put LIC’s policyholders and SBI’s deposit holders in any sort of trouble. Both LIC and SBI are going to do well.