Government-owned banks that had claims of nearly Rs 62,000 crore from 10 financially-stressed companies were made to settle them for Rs 16,000 crore after the Adani Group purchased these firms, the Congress claimed on Wednesday citing data from the All India Bank Employees Association.

“The All India Bank Employees Association has revealed, through publicly available data, how public sector banks that had claims of about Rs 62,000 crores from 10 financially-stressed companies have been made to settle for just Rs 16,000 crores after [Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s] favourite business group took over these 10 companies,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on social media.

Ramesh added: “In the colourful language of finance, this is a 74% ‘haircut’ taken by the banks.”

A haircut refers to the difference between the total amount that a borrower owes and the amount he or she finally pays to settle with the bank.

The data shared by the Congress showed the haircuts ranging from 42% to 96% in the 10 entities.

While the data listed the 10 companies that were under resolution, it did not specify the public sector banks that took the haircuts.

The Adani Group has not responded to this claim so far.

The Opposition party has for long alleged that the Adani Group has been involved in financial irregularities and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government of favouring the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate.