In 2025–26, banks in India were poorer by some ₹48,000 crore.
This does not include the gargantuan losses worth ₹15 lakh crore incurred by the Indian financial sector because of a company called Rajesh Exports.
What this means is that businessmen are not usually hauled up simply for doing business.
They come to grief, as Ambani has, only when they dabble in politics.
These are still the early days of the Rajesh Exports scam, so more dirt may emerge regarding how government financial institutions such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) acquired a large stake in this gold refining and trading company.
The main question is: at whose behest did LIC acquire a stake in the company when it was already bleeding financially?
Ever since this mother of all scams broke out, the names of those who allegedly persuaded LIC to buy the stake have been discussed in hushed tones.
Some have even mentioned the Prime Minister and the Home Minister as the two figures who may have asked LIC to overlook Rajesh Exports’ limitations.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, an economist and journalist known for his work on the Adani Group and banking scandals, draws parallels with how the Prime Minister’s favoured business group has been funded by nationalised banks.
Critics argue that its high debt levels stem from the overvaluation of its assets and companies, enabling it to secure larger loans than many public-sector companies could obtain.
