Congress alleged in September 2024 that public-sector banks settled claims of about ₹62,000 crore against 10 financially stressed companies for about ₹16,000 crore after the Adani Group took them over. The party said the figures came from All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) data. News reports documented the allegation; the amounts have not been independently verified in the coverage reviewed here.
What did Congress allege?
On 4 September 2024, Congress said that public-sector banks had claims of roughly ₹62,000 crore against 10 financially stressed companies later taken over by the Adani Group, and that the claims were settled for about ₹16,000 crore after the takeovers. The Economic Times, citing PTI, and Scroll reported the allegation and Congress’s attribution of the figures to AIBEA data.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh described the aggregate as a 74% “haircut,” saying: “In the colourful language of finance, this is a 74% ‘haircut’ taken by the banks.” That is Ramesh’s characterization of the alleged aggregate, not an independently verified finding.
What do the reported figures mean?
| Measure | Reported figure | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Claims against the 10 companies | About ₹62,000 crore | Congress’s figure, attributed to AIBEA data; reported by The Economic Times/PTI on 4 September 2024 and Scroll on 5 September 2024. |
| Settlement amounts | About ₹16,000 crore | Congress’s figure, attributed to AIBEA data; reported by The Economic Times/PTI and Scroll in September 2024. |
| Company-level haircut range | 42%–96% | Range in data Congress shared, as reported by Scroll on 5 September 2024; the reviewed coverage does not provide a verifiable company-by-company breakdown. |
| Aggregate haircut | 74% | Jairam Ramesh’s description of the alleged aggregate, reported by The Wire on 5 September 2024 and by Scroll and The Economic Times. |
The ₹62,000 crore and ₹16,000 crore totals imply a difference of roughly ₹46,000 crore, or about 74% of the claimed amount. That arithmetic is consistent with Ramesh’s characterization, but it does not independently establish the underlying claims, settlements, or how each amount was calculated.
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What is established—and what remains unclear?
The contemporaneous reports establish that Congress made the allegation and attributed its figures to AIBEA data. They do not establish the figures as a judicial, regulatory, or independently verified finding.
- Scroll reported that the data Congress shared did not identify which public-sector banks took the haircuts.
- The reviewed coverage does not provide a verifiable company-by-company table of admitted claims, settlement payments, and calculation methods.
- No original AIBEA table, public-sector-bank disclosure, court finding, or regulator determination validating the aggregate was available in the sources reviewed.
- Scroll reported on 5 September 2024 that the Adani Group had not responded to the allegation as of publication. That is a time-specific account, not evidence about any later response.
How should readers interpret the claim?
The figures should be read as a political allegation attributed to AIBEA data, not as proof that banks suffered independently established losses or that any party acted improperly. Verifying the totals would require the underlying AIBEA material and primary records for each insolvency resolution, including the admitted claims, approved resolution amounts, and creditor distributions. Without those records, the aggregate and its company-level composition cannot be confirmed from the cited coverage alone.
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