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After a US media outlet spread false information, factual inaccuracies, misleading claims and false narratives via its article, alleging that the government "pressured" LIC to invest up to $3.9 billion in the Adani Group, former top LIC officials on Monday rebutted the claim, saying they were never influenced by the government to invest in any particular company in their entire career. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has already issued an official rebuttal to The Washington Post article, categorically describing it as "false, baseless, and far from the truth". An ex-LIC senior official told IANS on the condition of anonymity that in his entire tenure, "not once any government official or employee called him to suggest investing in any particular company". "I had peaceful sleep every single day, knowing that we are free from any government pressure to decide on where to invest. We always followed due diligence before investing, and those stringent and rigorous processes are still in place," said the former top LIC official, affirming that the government never interferes in any investment decision of LIC. According to senior LIC officials, such maligning articles are nothing but attempts to adversely impact the India growth story, as LIC is a major domestic systemically important insurer. LIC has already denied false reports by The Washington Post, reaffirming that all investments are made with integrity and due diligence. The article had claimed that officials allegedly fast-tracked a proposal in May this year to direct approximately $3.9 billion in investments from the LIC to an Adani group firm. "Department of Financial Services or any other body does not have any role in such decisions. LIC has ensured the highest standards of due diligence, and all its investment decisions have been undertaken in compliance with extant policies, provisions in the Acts and regulatory guidelines, in the best interest of all its stakeholders," LIC said in the statement. LIC said that these purported statements in the article "appear to have been made with the intention to prejudice the well-settled decision-making process of LIC and also to tarnish the reputation and image of LIC and the strong financial sector foundations in India". (With inputs from IANS)
