The Adani Group has seen its market cap erode by approximately Rs 4.2 lakh crore over the past two trading days, following the release of an unfavorable research report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research. This has caused investors to be increasingly concerned about their exposure to the group, especially when the share prices are falling.
LIC, India's largest institutional investor, has significant exposure to almost all of Adani Group's listed companies with a 4.23% stake in Adani Enterprises and a 9.14% stake in Adani Ports. This has led to the group losing over Rs 4 lakh crore in market capitalisation in just two trading sessions.
LIC's overall holdings in the conglomerate dropped 22% amounting to Rs 55,565 crore as opposed to Rs 72,193 crore on Tuesday before the release of the report. SBI's Managing Director in Charge, Prashant Kumar, stated that the bank's exposure to the Adani Group is well below the Large Exposure Framework.
Bill Ackman, a renowned American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager, gave a thumbs up to the report on Friday. Opposition leader Jairam Ramesh has called for a thorough investigation into the accusations against Adani Group, citing the high exposure of financial institutions such as LIC and SBI to the Adani Group which could potentially put public money at risk.
