WaPo tries to pull off a Hindenburg, misleads about LIC’s publicly known investment in Adani Group through dubious ‘journalists’, ‘experts’ and non-existent ‘internal documents’

On Friday (24th October), The Washington Post attempted to tarnish the reputation of the Adani Group and target the Modi government by making unsubstantiated claims of crony capitalism.

A hit-piece to this effect titled ‘India’s $3.9 billion plan to help Modi’s mogul ally after U.S. charges’ was published by the American leftist newspaper.

The Washington Post claimed to have accessed ‘internal documents’ exclusively, which somehow suggests that the Modi govt and its officials somehow ‘coerced’ the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to invest ₹5000 crores in the Indian conglomerate.

It alleged, “Internal documents obtained exclusively by The Washington Post detail how Indian officials drafted and pushed through a proposal in May to steer roughly $3.9 billion in investments to Adani’s businesses from the Life Insurance Corporation of India, or LIC — a state-owned entity primarily responsible for providing life insurance to poor and rural families.“

While the Washington Post tried to pass off the news as some exclusive information, the investment by LIC was acknowledged by none other than the Adani Group itself in a press release in May this year.

“Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), India’s largest integrated transport utility, has successfully raised INR 5,000 crore through a 15-year Non-Convertible Debenture (NCD). Backed by APSEZ’s strong financials and a ‘AAA/Stable’ domestic credit rating, the issue locked in a competitive coupon rate of 7.75% p.a. and was fully subscribed by LIC. The debentures will be listed on the BSE,” the Indian conglomerate had said.

For the unversed, NCD is a fixed-income instrument which companies use to raise funds without allowing the option of converting to equity shares. In the particular LIC-Adani deal, the insurance entity will receive regular interest payments at 7.75% pa. The principal amount of ₹5000 crores will also be returned to it on maturity, i.e. in the year 2040.

Given the nature of LIC, the investment in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited will provide it with a predictable income stream with low risk (given the AAA/ Stable domestic credit rating).

At the same time, it is important to point out that the Indian public sector life insurance company has invested heavily in several private companies.

For instance, LIC’s top holdings include Reliance Industries (₹1.38 lakh crore), ITC Ltd (₹82,342 crore), HDFC Bank, TCS, IDBI Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, SBI, L&T, and Infosys.

As such, it is not unusual for LIC to invest in Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), either and that too an amount of ₹5000 crores.

But this did not stop ‘The Washington Post’ from alleging that the Modi government was somehow directing taxpayer money to bail out an Indian conglomerate ‘reeling under debt.’

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

The non-existent ‘internal documents’ referred to by The Washington Post apparently suggest that the Indian Department of Financial Services (DFS) warned LIC against investment in Adani Group.

The American newspaper alleged, “The DFS documents acknowledged that the proposed investment strategy came with risks. “Adani’s securities are sensitive to controversies…causing short-term price fluctuations,” one document said.“

It quoted an ‘independent expert’ named Hemindra Hazari in its report to cast aspersions on the motives of the Indian government and the integrity of LIC and the Adani Group.

Having said that, The Washington Post had to grudingly accept that the investments were made through transparent investment rationales, compliance with Indian regulators, exercising due diligence and ensuring economic benefits.

It also referred to the now-debunked Hindenburg report to further peddle unproven claims of ‘crony capitalism’ against the Indian conglomerate.

LIC rubbishes claims made by The Washington Post

In a statement released on Saturday (25th October), the Life Insurance Corporation of India pointed out, “The allegations leveled by the Washington Post that the investment decisions of LIC are influenced by external factors are false, baseless, and far from truth.”

The public sector insurance company also rubbished claims about the existence of any such internal document, which was the only foundation of the article by the American newspaper.

“No such document or plan as alleged in the article has ever been prepared by LIC, which creates a roadmap for infusing funds by LIC into Adani group of companies. The investment decisions are taken by LIC independently as per Board approved policies after detailed due diligence,” LIC emphasised.

It further pointed out that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) or any other entity does not have any role in its decision-making process.

“LIC has ensured highest standards of due diligence and all its investment decisions have been undertaken in compliance with extant policies, provisions in the Acts and regulatory guidelines, in the best interest of all its stakeholders,” it concluded.

Adani Group denies accusations of crony capitalism

The Adani Group has also categorically denied accusations of crony capitalism made by The Washington Post in its article.

“We categorically deny involvement in any alleged government plans to direct LIC funds…LIC invests across multiple corporate groups — and suggesting preferential treatment for Adani is misleading. Moreover, LIC has earned returns from its exposure to our portfolio. Assertions of undue political favour are unfounded…Our growth predates Mr Modi’s national leadership,” it added.

‘Journalists’ behind the dubious report targeting Adani and Modi govt

One of the ‘journalists’ behind the hit-piece happened to be Pranshu Verma.

OpIndia had reported in December 2023 how he was soliciting information about the Indian OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) handle ‘Disinfo Lab’ from American political commentator Jack Posobiec.

Pranshu Verma, who has been working with The Washington Post since February 2022, hoped to deter Jack Posobiec from sharing informative posts of ‘Disinfo Lab.’

In January 2023, he romanticised an Islamist named Raqib Hameed Naik in an article titled ‘Tracking rising religious hatred in India, from half a world away.’ A vicious fake news peddler, Raqib Hameed Naik is the founder of anti-Hindu disinformation outlet ‘Hindutva Watch.’

He is also infamous for denying the Hindu genocide, perpetrated by radical Islamists in the Kashmir Valley, in the early 1990s. Naik had also mocked the Hindu ‘Shivling’ found inside the Gyanvapi mosque in Kashi

In his article in January 2023, Pranshu Verma relied on a database provided by ‘DOTO’ to allege that ‘religious hatred’ is on the rise in India.

Coincidentally, ‘Disinfo Lab’ had previously exposed the fabrications of DOTO, following which the latter first revised and then deleted the database.

Another ‘journalist’ who co-authored the article happens to Ravi Nair, a columnist at the leftist propaganda portal ‘The Wire.’

In September this year, a Delhi court ordered him to remove unsubstantiated and defamatory content (based on the lies of Hindenburg Research), which he published to tarnish the reputation of businessman Gautam Adani.

Earlier in February 2025, Ravi Nair peddled lies about the Adani Group in the British newspaper ‘The Guardian.’

Out of desperation to target the Modi government, the ‘journalist’ made a fool out of himself by comparing the Indian rupee with the currency of Afghanistan.

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