While India’s state insurer faced political heat over its Adani bets, deep-pocketed US insurers quietly poured hundreds of millions into the conglomerate’s crown jewels — including the country’s busiest airport.
In June 2025, just weeks after Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) invested ₹5,000 crore ($570 million) in Adani Ports & SEZ, US-based Athene Insurance led a ₹6,650 crore ($750 million) debt financing round for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MAIL). The deal, confirmed by Athene’s parent Apollo Global Management on June 23, drew participation from several other international insurers, as per a PTI report.
Apollo described the transaction as an “investment grade rated financing,” its second major round with MAIL following a previous debt restructuring deal.
Meanwhile, Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) secured $250 million from a global lender consortium that included DBS Bank, DZ Bank, Rabobank, and Bank SinoPac. The fresh inflows reflect what S&P Global Ratings called a “resurgence” in the group’s access to global capital, with over $10 billion in credit secured across Adani’s verticals in the first half of 2025, the PTI report added.
LIC, which came under scrutiny after a Washington Post report alleged political pressure in its Adani investments, pushed back sharply on Saturday. Calling the claims “false” and “baseless,” LIC said all investments are board-approved and undergo strict due diligence.
The insurer highlighted that its exposure to the Adani Group stands at less than 2% of the conglomerate’s ₹2.6 lakh crore debt. Its Adani holdings — worth ₹60,000 crore — are dwarfed by its stakes in Reliance Industries (₹1.33 lakh crore), ITC (₹82,800 crore), and TCS (₹5.7 lakh crore).
“There has never been any government interference,” said former LIC Chairman Siddhartha Mohanty. Adani CFO Jugeshinder Singh dismissed the Washington Post report as “100 per cent moronic,” adding, “It is not even wrong.” Singh said the group’s $450 million debt buyback in June was a prepayment, not a refinancing, as the article claimed.
Analysts say global insurers are increasingly eyeing Indian infrastructure assets like those held by Adani, drawn by their long-term return potential and scale.
