After union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that the finance ministry does not issue advisory or directions to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) regarding its investment decisions, political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla backed her remarks, saying LIC is a professional institution.
Poonawalla said, “LIC is very professionally managed… Somebody whose equity portfolio is Rs 15 lakh crores and they’re managing Rs 55 lakh crores of India’s savings can’t just invest money somewhere because some minister gave an order. LIC’s own rules prohibit it from investing more than 1 % of its total funds in any one corporate group. The LIC investment in the Adani Group in 2017 was about Rs 30,000 crores, which today is about Rs 65,000 crores. So it’s only grown. It has not lost people’s money. One of Adani’s investments was a triple-A bond of around Rs 5000 crore. Even in that particular bond series of the Adanis, many international banks and other players also invested.”
#WATCH | Delhi | On FM Nirmala Sitharaman's statement on LIC investments, political analyst Tehseen Poonawalla says, "… LIC is very professionally managed… Somebody whose equity portfolio is Rs 15 lakh crores and they're managing Rs 55 lakh crores of India's savings can't… pic.twitter.com/CkJfy22C8y
— ANI (@ANI) December 2, 2025
“LIC is a professional institution. It’s doing well for the country. India trusts LIC. We should keep LIC out of politics… Even the Finance Minister or the Prime Minister can’t call up LIC and ask them to invest here or there… I’m opposed to the BJP. I don’t like the BJP. But we should stand firm for India, and LIC is a part of India… We should hope for the best for LIC… LIC should also communicate properly. It should be transparent to the parliamentary committees. It’s ultimately a public company. It should put out what it’s invested in. It’s ultimately funded by the taxpayers,” Poonawalla added.
