Govt does not give LIC directions on its investment decisions: FinMin

LIC's investment in Adani Group cos as of September 30 stood at Rs 48,284.62 crore

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The Ministry of Finance (FinMin) on Monday clarified that it does not issue any advisory or direction to state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on how to invest its corpus. LIC’s investment decisions are taken independently, following strict due diligence, risk assessment and fiduciary compliance, and are governed by the provisions of the Insurance Act, 1938, as well as regulations issued by Irdai, the RBI and Sebi. 

The clarification was in response to a question asked in the Lok Sabha on whether any directions or advisories were issued by the ministry or Department of Financial Services (DFS) to LIC or other public-sector financial institutions to invest in Adani group companies. 

Additionally, the finance ministry said LIC’s investments reflect that it invests in the top 500 companies listed on NSE and BSE and a major portion of LIC’s investment currently is in the larger companies out of these. Book value of LIC’s investment in Nifty 50 companies as of September 30 is ₹4.31 trillion, which is 45.85 per cent of its total equity investment. 

According to data shared by the ministry, LIC’s book value of investment in debt securities of private and public-sector companies stands at ₹4.65 trillion and equity investment at ₹9.4 trillion as of September 30, 2025. Among private companies, LIC has maximum investment in HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries (equity and debt both). 

 

Data shows the total debt and equity investment of LIC in Adani group stands at ₹48,284.6 crore as of September 30, up from ₹2,041.6 crore as on April 1, 2007. The book value of LIC’s equity investment in Adani group companies stood at ₹38,658.85 crore, while that of debt investment was ₹9,625.77 crore as of September 30.