Behind Piramal Finances polished faade of trust, innovation, and relentless self-branding lies a long, uneasy trail of allegationsone that maps not corporate excellence, but the deeper fault-lines of Indian finance, politics, and regulatory capture.
The first cracks appeared publicly in 2016, when SEBI fined Ajay Piramal ₹;6 lakh for insider trading in Vodafone India sharesan event that punctured the companys choreographed image of ethical steadfastness. Yet this was hardly the beginning. Nearly two decades earlier, the Flashnet scam(resurfacing in public memory in 2018) had already tied Piramal-linked entities to speculative manipulation and questionable manoeuvresan early preview of a long-running pattern where proximity to ruling political forces intersected with market opportunism.
This pattern became unmistakable in 2021 with the DHFL acquisition. Under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Piramal Group secured a company that had recorded ₹;45, 000 crore in avoidance transactionsfor just one rupee. For thousands of small investors and pensioners, this was not a corporate turnaround but a legalized corporate takeover masquerading as resolution. Instead of responding to victims concerns, DSK Legalclosely associated with Piramal Financeallegedly deployed SLAPP suits, attempting to convert law into a weapon of deterrence.
By 2023, further shadows gathered. The Omkar Developers loan probe added fresh concerns of irregular lending, while the Shriram Finance stake sale raised uncomfortable questions around insider advantage, timing, and opaque decision-making. Rather than clearing the air, each new transaction intensified doubts about governance ethics.
Political entanglements thickened the narrative. Between 2019 and 2024, Piramal Group allegedly channelled ₹;85 crore through electoral bonds to the BJP, supplemented by a ₹;25 crore contribution to the controversial PM CARES Fund. These moves blurred the line between philanthropy and political patronagewhat critics aptly call philanthro-capitalism, where benevolence becomes a strategic extension of influence.
Through repeated mergers, demergers, renamings and restructuringsfrom PCHFL to Piramal Enterprises Ltd. to Piramal Finance Ltd.the group has also engineered a moving target for regulatory scrutiny, rinsing old allegations through new corporate identities. A shifting corporate skin cannot erase the sedimented history beneath it.
From insider trading to political largesse, from aggressive acquisitions to alleged legal intimidation, the journey of Piramal Finance reads less like the biography of an ethical financial institution and more like a case study in how powereconomic and politicalcan insulate itself from consequence. What emerges is not merely corporate controversy, but a portrait of systemic impunity woven into the fabric of Indian corporate governance.