New Delhi: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has invested the maximum amount of Rs 88,404 crore in the Tata Group, followed by an infusion of Rs 80,843 crore in HDFC Bank and Rs 60,065.56 crore in Reliance Group, Parliament was informed Tuesday.
Adani Group attracted an investment of Rs 47,633.78 crore, while SBI attracted Rs 46,621.76 crore from LIC, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
He said there are 35 domestic companies or groups in which LIC has invested more than Rs 5,000 crore each, aggregating to Rs 7.87 lakh crore.
The minister shared a list of business groups in which the combined exposure of LIC exceeds Rs 5,000 crore. The list includes L&T, Uniliver, IDBI Bank, M&M, and Aditya Birla.
LIC has an exposure of Rs 3.23 lakh crore in these top five groups as against an aggregate of Rs 7.87 lakh crore in 35 companies.
He further said that LIC has a board-approved investment policy, which acts as an umbrella framework for any investment carried out by the investment department of the insurance company.
The Investment Committee, a sub-committee of the Board, comprising CEO & MD, MDs and Independent Directors, takes all investment decisions pertaining to equity and debt investments in companies, he said.
“All investment functions follow the ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ (SOP), which is approved by the Investment Committee and reported to the board. This SOP is reviewed by LIC each year and revised as necessary to comply with regulatory requirements,” he said.
The investment decisions are undertaken by LIC following strict due diligence, risk assessment and fiduciary compliance, and are governed by the provisions of Insurance Act, 1938 as well as regulations issued by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) (wherever applicable) from time to time, he said.
He also said that LIC exposure in seven sectors, including cement, FMCG, Ports & Logistics, and News & Broadcasting, stood at Rs 2,27,327.84 crore as of September 2025.
Replying to another question, Chaudhary said there is no proposal of farm debt waiver under consideration for the government at present.
In a separate response, Chaudhary said that various domestic and global factors influence the exchange rate of the Indian Rupee (INR), such as the movement of the Dollar Index, trend in capital flows, level of interest rates, movement in crude prices, current account deficit etc.
During the current financial year 2025-26, the depreciation of the INR has been influenced by the increase in trade deficit and likely prospects arising from the ongoing developments in India’s trade agreement with the US, amid relatively weak support from the capital account.
The depreciation of currency is likely to enhance export competitiveness, which in turn impacts the economy positively, he said.
On the other hand, he said, depreciation may raise the prices of imported goods.
However, the overall impact of exchange rate depreciation on domestic prices depends on the extent of the pass-through of international commodity prices to the domestic market.
Furthermore, he said, the imports in the economy also depend on various factors, including the demand and supply of commodities in the international market, the kind of tradeable (i.e, essential or luxury items), freight costs, availability of substitute goods, etc, he said.
Thus, the impact of the movement of the exchange rate on the import cost and hence on domestic inflation and on the economy in general cannot be isolated, he added.
The value of the INR is market-determined, with no target or specific level or band, he said in a reply to another question.
PTI
