If Adani affair storm in a tea cup, then the cup belongs to PM Modi: Jairam Ramesh

Finance secretary TV Somanathan said there is absolutely no concern for the depositors or the policyholders as SBI and LOC's exposure to Adani firms is tiny.

New Delhi, Feb 03: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday strongly reacted to finance secretary TV Somanathan's remark that the stock market turmoil triggered by the Adani Group rout is a storm in a tea cup.

Taking to Twitter, Jairam Ramesh said the tea cup, in that case, belongs to PM Modi himself and is no ordinary tea cup.

"A responsible senior official has dismissed the Adani affair as a storm in a tea cup. Well, he accepts it as a storm. As for the tea cup, it is of none other than the PM himself. No ordinary tea cup!" Jairam Ramesh tweeted amid the ongoing row over allegations against the Adani Group.

Finance secretary TV Somanathan said there is absolutely no concern for the depositors or the policyholders as SBI and LOC's exposure to Adani firms is tiny. The share of any one company is not such as to create any impact at the macro level and so there is absolutely no concern from that point of view," Somanathan told PTI.

"From macroeconomic point of view, this is a non-issue. It's a complete non-issue from our point of view. It's a storm in a tea cup as far as macroeconomics are concerned, not in respect of markets," the finance secretary said.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India issued a statement without naming the Adani Group and said the banking sector remains resilient and stable and under the constant watch of the central bank.

"As the regulator and supervisor, the RBI maintains a constant vigil on the banking sector and on individual banks with a view to maintain financial stability. The RBI has a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database system where the banks report their exposure of ₹5 crore and above which is used for monitoring purposes," the statement read.

"As per the RBI's current assessment, the banking sector remains resilient and stable. Various parameters relating to capital adequacy, asset quality, liquidity, provision coverage and profitability are healthy. Banks are also in compliance with the Large Exposure Framework (LEF) guidelines issued by the RBI," it added.

"The RBI remains vigilant and continues to monitor the stability of the Indian banking secton," the statement said.