Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday responded to the Adani-Hindenburg issue in an interview with News18, citing the statements of the SBI and the LIC.
She also reiterated that their exposure to Adani Group stocks is well within permitted limits and that they are still profitable despite falling valuations.
The stock market turmoil created by rout in Adani group shares is a “storm in a tea cup” from a macroeconomic point of view, finance secretary T V Somanathan said on Friday, emphasing that India’s public financial system is robust.
The senior most bureaucrat in the finance ministry also said that movements in the stock market per se is not the government’s concern and there are independent regulators to take necessary action.
Replying to a question on the impact of the fraud allegations on the Adani group on financial system considering banks and insurance companies exposure to the group, Somanathan said India’s public financial institutions are robust.
“There is absolutely no concern from the point of view of financial stability, either for depositors, or for policyholders, or for anyone holding shares in these institutions. The share of any one company is not such as to create any impact at the macro level and so there is absolutely no concern from that point of view,” he told PTI in a post-budget interview.
The stock price of Adani Enterprises fell by over 70 per cent from its peak of Rs 4,190 in December, last year.
Since January, the BSE Sensex has slumped by over 1,000 points largely driven by sell off in Adani group stocks.
Amid continued disruptions in both houses of Parliament over US-based research firm Hindenburg’s allegations against Adani group, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said that the government has nothing to do with the matter and the opposition is raising it as it is bereft of issues.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Joshi, when asked about the government’s stand on the Adani group issue, said that the government has got nothing to do with the matter.
“Government has nothing to do with it (Adani group issue)… The opposition is disrupting the house as it has no other issues,” the Parliamentary Affairs minister said.
