THE State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest financier, has given loans of as much as US$2.6 billion to companies in the Adani conglomerate, or about half of what is allowed under the rules, said a source. 

SBI’s exposure includes US$200 million from its overseas units, the source said, asking not to be identified in discussing private information. Dinesh Kumar Khara, chairperson of SBI, said earlier on Thursday (Feb 2) that the Adani Group companies were servicing the loans, and that he does not see an “immediate challenge” to whatever the bank has lent so far.

The Reserve Bank of India, the nation’s banking regulator, had asked lenders for details of their exposure to the conglomerate following a rout in the stock prices of the group’s companies, Bloomberg News reported earlier on Thursday.

A representative for SBI did not respond to an email seeking comment on the exposure.

The exposure by various financiers to companies controlled by Gautam Adani has come under increasing scrutiny, after their shares plunged following a scathing report from US-based Hindenburg Research. Wealth units of Credit Suisse and Citigroup have stopped accepting securities from the group as collateral for margin loans to their clients, Bloomberg News reported earlier.

Adani has repeatedly denied the allegations, and has called the report “bogus”.

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Other domestic banks are also confident that the Indian group can service its loans.

State-run Punjab National Bank’s exposure to Adani companies was 70 billion rupees (S$1.1 billion), Atul Goel, its chief executive, told reporters last month.

Private-sector IDFC First Bank said in an exchange filing on Thursday that the funded outstanding exposure to the Adani Group was less than 0.1 per cent of its total loans. Meanwhile, IndusInd Bank said that its exposure of 29 trillion rupees accounted for 0.5 per cent of its loan book. BLOOMBERG