SBI, LIC exposure to Adani within permitted limits: FM

| | New Delhi
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SBI, LIC exposure to Adani within permitted limits: FM

Saturday, 04 February 2023 | PNS | New Delhi

SBI, LIC exposure to Adani within permitted limits: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday  said the exposure of the State Bank of India and Life Insurance Corporation in the Adani Group companies is within  permitted limits and asserted that  India is a well-governed and well-regulated financial market wherein regulators are “very stringent” about certain governance practices.

When asked about the latest row concerning the Adani Group in an interview with CNN-News-18, the FM said, “India remains a well-governed, well-regulated financial market. Our regulators are very stringent about certain governance practices. So many lessons have been learnt over the decades.”

Adani Group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after US-based Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations in a report, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group.

Citing the statement issued by the heads of both the SBI and the LIC  on the Adani crisis, she said they are not over-exposed.

“I want to recall the words...coming from the horse’s mouth has more credibility. Both SBI and LIC have issued detailed statements. And I know the chairperson or the CMD… he has himself come out and explained how they are not overexposed or whatever they said.

“And also said, look, we are sitting over profits for the exposure that we have which is well within the limit. That’s what I understood. I read it through the media,” Sitharaman said.

The FM asserted that the Indian banking sector today is at a very comfortable level and their position is very sound,  adding that she made the statement with a sense of responsibility.

“She pointed out that NPA was  coming down  and recovery was improving and that is why banks got a good response when they went  to raise money in the market.

The FM praised  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for guiding  India tackle the crisis triggered by the  Covid-19 pandemic as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, adding that people of the country must also be credited with “absorbing” the Government’s strategies.

Sitharaman said she had no precedent before her to handle the situation as she looked back on the pandemic.

“To capture the experiences, the ‘anubhav’ and look back at it now when you are probably slightly out of it is very difficult to describe in a short answer,” the FM said. “There were no templates. There were no templates. There were no examples to follow. There were no theories that would have worked in such a context. Essentially, we were going by continuous conversation with all kinds of stakeholders. We had to engage in conversation with all people, take their view, and see which one works out and also have the courage to say one way may not work out for us,” she added.

Hailing  Modi for guiding the country through such a grim  phase, Sitharaman said, “I would immensely recall the ways in which PM Modi led the conversation with us. He would never tire of meeting us, would never say not today. Following all necessary precautions for Covid-19, we would still meet and talk about things.”

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