From Haridas Mundhra to Adani: How LIC’s Culture of Secrecy Has Come Full Circle

On 25th October, the Washington Post (WaPo) published an explosive investigation alleging that Indian government had drawn up a plan to channel nearly US$3.9bn (billion) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) funds into Gautam Adani’s debt-laden conglomerate. The proposal, allegedly coordinated by the finance ministry (through the department of financial services) and NITI Aayog, had wanted LIC buy Adani group’s bonds and raise its equity stake in several group firms just months after US regulators accused Adani companies of stock manipulation and fraud. The WaPo report, which is largely based on anonymous sources, itself acknowledges that it is unclear how much of the DFS-recommended plan was actually executed beyond a Rs5,000-crore Adani Ports’ bond purchase in May 2025. (Read: Ind