India’s LIC Backed 'Modi’s Mogul Ally' and Billionaire Adani With Billions While Global Banks Stepped Back

When global lenders gave Gautam Adani the cold shoulder this spring, the Indian state reached into its public wallet and found nearly $3.9 billion lying around. According to a Washington Post investigation, Indian officials crafted a plan to funnel those funds to Adani’s debt-heavy empire using Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a state insurer meant to protect millions of poor and rural citizens.

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The timing was as elegant as Tharoor's love songs of yore. Adani Ports urgently needed $585 million in May to refinance old debt. A single investor picked up the tab: LIC. According to documents and officials cited by The Washington Post, this was allegedly a government strategy, coordinated by the Finance Ministry, Department of Financial Services, and NITI Aayog.

This all came as U.S. authorities charged Adani and associates with bribery and fraud in a five-count indictment, alleging a multibillion-dollar scheme to dupe investors and win solar contracts through $250 million in kickbacks. In the same breath, India’s internal memos dubbed him a “visionary entrepreneur” showing “remarkable resilience.”

International investors, meanwhile, showed remarkable restraint by staying away. LIC, however, was encouraged to buy corporate bonds and increase equity stakes, despite already losing $5.6 billion on paper after the 2023 Hindenburg revelations.

Indian officials directed billions from the state life insurance agency to Gautam Adani’s businesses, internal documents show.

Adani, facing U.S. bribery and fraud charges, denies government favoritism. https://t.co/jm9guPzG30

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 25, 2025

No one at LIC, the Finance Ministry, or the Prime Minister’s Office responded to The Washington Post’s questions. Adani Group denied wrongdoing, as did everyone else. The phrase “categorically denied” appeared more than once. The investments, officials claimed, were aligned with LIC’s mandate and India’s economic objectives. 

In unrelated news, private risk was also apparently reclassified as “public interest.”

Critics, like analyst Hemindra Hazari, told The Washington Post the move puts LIC at grave risk. “If anything happens to LIC, it’s only the government that can bail it out,” he said. Which, if irony were edible, might be India’s most renewable resource yet.

All patriots out there & all media houses - how about some attention & coverage on how ₹30,000 crores of Indian tax payer money used as Adani’s piggybank courtesy @FinMinIndia?
@IndiaToday @htTweets @IndianExpress

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 24, 2025

U.S. authorities still await legal cooperation from India to serve summons. In the meantime, Adani is busy promising 15,000 American jobs and investing $10 billion in U.S. infrastructure, while his government backers ensure he doesn’t have to sell any ports to pay the bills.

Meanwhile, LIC has denied what it called "false reports by The Washington Post" and stated that "all investments are made with integrity and due diligence."

LIC denies false reports by The Washington Post, reaffirming all investments are made with integrity and due diligence.#LIC #HarPalAapkeSaath #washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/RQ0N2AvBA1

— LIC India Forever (@LICIndiaForever) October 25, 2025

In the business of Indian capitalism, when the tycoon stumbles, the taxpayer picks up the tab — and you are a fool to believe it as nation-building.