Exposé Details $3.9 Billion LIC Bailout for Adani Group, Alleges Deepening ‘Modani’ Corruption and Institutional Failure
RMN News Report Highlights:
💰 The Narendra Modi government allegedly devised a covert $3.9 billion LIC bailout plan in May 2025, coordinated by the Union Finance Ministry, DFS, LIC, and NITI Aayog, specifically to prop up the debt-laden Adani Group.
⚖️ Adani and his associates face serious charges from the US Department of Justice and the SEC for a multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme involving $250 million in illegal payments to secure energy contracts.
🤝 The alleged collusion between oligarch Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is dubbed the “Modani” corruption scandal, described as potentially the biggest grand corruption crime in history, involving the alleged plunder of India’s public assets over about two decades.
🏛️ Indian courts, law-enforcement agencies, and media houses reportedly “cannot dare” to investigate the Modi-Adani collusion case honestly, and the Supreme Court of India is described as having become a “toothless outfit” that repeatedly failed to deliver justice in the Adani Group’s money laundering case.
By Rakesh Raman
New Delhi | October 25, 2025
New Delhi—A Washington Post investigation, cited by The Wire, reports that the Narendra Modi government engineered a covert $3.9 billion plan to channel funds from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) into the debt-laden Adani Group. This investment strategy was allegedly devised to prop up Gautam Adani’s business empire at a time when numerous foreign banks in the US and Europe were reluctant to extend further credit due to mounting corruption and fraud allegations against the conglomerate.
Coordinated Strategy and Implementation
The alleged $3.9 billion investment strategy was jointly developed in May 2025 by India’s Union Finance Ministry, the Department of Financial Services (DFS), the state-owned LIC, and the government think tank NITI Aayog.
The plan materialized later that same month when Adani Ports needed to raise approximately $585 million in a bond issue intended to refinance existing debt. On May 30, the Adani Group announced that the entirety of the bond issue had been financed by a single investor: LIC. This deal was immediately characterized by critics as a misuse of public funds.
The proposal’s stated aim, according to the report’s coverage, was to “signal confidence” in Adani and thereby attract additional investors. This push for confidence occurred even though the Adani Group’s debt had surged by 20% in the preceding year, and it was actively facing investigations by US authorities.
Government Views Versus Financial Risk
Internal DFS documents cited in the investigation reportedly describe Adani as a “visionary entrepreneur”. Indian officials viewed his ventures across ports, power, and infrastructure as “critical to national economic goals”.
However, analysts interviewed by The Post cautioned that LIC, which is tasked with safeguarding the savings of millions of low-income Indians, is exposed to significant financial risk due to such concentrated investments.
Opposition leaders have long asserted that Prime Minister Modi’s close relationship with Gautam Adani is clear evidence of crony capitalism. Many observers view the alleged bailout as another instance of India’s “tightening corporate-state nexus”. In this nexus, Adani’s success is increasingly intertwined with the government’s economic ambitions, resulting in taxpayers ultimately bearing the financial burden of sustaining one of Modi’s closest allies. The Adani Group, however, has dismissed such claims as a “conspiracy against India”.
International Legal Scrutiny
The Adani Group continues to face serious allegations abroad. The US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have charged Adani and his associates with involvement in a multibillion-dollar bribery and fraud scheme. This scheme allegedly included $250 million in illegal payments and false statements used to secure energy contracts. Adani has categorically denied these allegations, labeling them “baseless”.
In October, the SEC noted that Indian authorities had failed to act on its requests to serve legal summons and complaints to Adani Group executives.
This controversy follows the 2023 exposé by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which accused Adani of accounting irregularities and stock manipulation. While India’s market regulator SEBI dismissed two of Hindenburg’s allegations in September of this year, the initial fallout caused many global banks to distance themselves from the conglomerate.
Allegations of Institutional Failure and ‘Modani’ Collusion
The alleged collusion between the oligarch Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, often referred to as the “Modani” corruption scandal, is described as perhaps the “biggest grand corruption crime in the history of mankind”. It is alleged that this partnership involved collusion for about two decades to plunder India’s public assets.
It is reported that since Indian courts, law-enforcement agencies, and media houses “cannot dare” to honestly investigate or report about the Modi-Adani collusion case, foreign publications have stepped in to cover the stories of this multibillion-dollar scandal.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court of India is described as having become a “toothless outfit” and has repeatedly failed to deliver justice in the Adani Group’s money laundering and accounting fraud case. The research report, “Law Flaw: India Judicial Research Report 2025 – Decline of the Indian Judiciary“, covers this story of rampant judicial corruption in India.
The sources also suggest that while the Indian media is colluding with the Modi regime, the opposition is “almost extinct” or exists primarily on Twitter. Combined with the Election Commission of India (ECI) allegedly helping Modi win elections deceptively, Modi is reportedly “not bothered” about critical foreign media reports. Consequently, Modi and his party BJP are expected to “keep winning elections at will and running the country as a criminal enterprise”.
In response to The Washington Post, the Adani Group “categorically denied” having any role in the government’s decision. The Group dismissed the claims of political favouritism as “unfounded”, asserting that its growth “predates Modi’s national leadership”.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
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