‘Modani MegaScam’: Congress seeks PAC probe into LIC fund misuse for Adani

The Congress on Saturday, 25 October, unleashed a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, alleging that the hard-earned savings of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) policyholders — 30 crore in all — have been systematically misused to bail out the Adani Group.

The party demanded that Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) immediately probe how LIC was allegedly “forced” to funnel investments into the conglomerate.

Addressing the media, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh described the revelations as disturbing and unprecedented, accusing the so-called “Modani joint venture” of leveraging public funds to prop up a private entity. “Internal documents reveal that in May 2025, officials drafted and pushed through a proposal to invest around Rs 33,000 crore of LIC funds into various Adani Group companies,” Ramesh said, claiming the move was intended to signal confidence in the group and lure other investors.

Ramesh further questioned the role of government officials, asking, “Under whose pressure did the Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog decide their job was to rescue a private company facing serious criminal allegations? Is this not a textbook case of public funds being misdirected for private gain?”

The Congress leader highlighted the immediate financial fallout, noting that LIC suffered a staggering Rs 7,850 crore loss in just four hours of trading on 21 September 2024, following the indictment of Gautam Adani and seven associates in the United States. He pointed to allegations of a Rs 2,000 crore bribery scheme orchestrated by Adani to secure high-priced solar power contracts, claiming that the Modi government has refused to respond to a US SEC summons for nearly a year.

The scope of the alleged “Modani MegaScam,” Ramesh claimed, was breathtakingly wide. It reportedly includes the misuse of investigative agencies such as the ED, CBI, and Income Tax Department to coerce private companies into selling assets to the Adani Group, as well as rigged privatizations of critical infrastructure like airports and ports for the conglomerate’s benefit. He further alleged the misuse of diplomatic channels to funnel contracts to the group in neighbouring countries.

The Congress also claimed that Adani associates were involved in the import of over-invoiced coal, facilitated through a web of shell companies, contributing to soaring electricity prices in Gujarat. Ramesh highlighted pre-election agreements for electricity at abnormally high rates in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, and the recent alleged allocation of land at Rs 1 per acre for a power plant in poll-bound Bihar.

“The entirety of this Modani MegaScam can only be thoroughly investigated by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, a demand the Congress has been making for nearly three years through its Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun (HAHK) 100-question series,” Ramesh said. As an immediate step, he insisted that the PAC investigate the coercion of LIC into investing in the Adani Group, a move well within its constitutional mandate.

The Adani Group, for its part, has dismissed all allegations as baseless, asserting its compliance with all laws and disclosure norms, while the government has yet to respond to the Congress’s claims.

The revelations, if proven, could mark one of the most far-reaching financial controversies in modern Indian corporate and political history, raising critical questions about the use of public funds, corporate cronyism, and accountability at the highest levels of governance.

With PTI inputs