Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) should happen “this year itself". In an exclusive interview with Rahul Joshi, Group Editor-in-Chief, Network18, she said, “LIC IPO plans are going fine. It should happen this year itself. Money from the LIC IPO will come this year itself."
The LIC stock launch will be the biggest initial public offering in India with the country pushing for a valuation of Rs 15 lakh crore, according to reports. Talking about the valuation, the finance minister said, “We will announce it at the time."
Sitharaman on Tuesday announced in her Budget speech that the LIC mega public offer is “expected shortly". She had, days before the Budget 2022 presentation, reviewed the progress of the IPO of LIC in a meeting with top officials of the ministry.
The government is in the process of deciding the quantum of its stake that will be divested through the IPO.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) will soon approach the Union Cabinet to seek its approval on changes in the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to facilitate the disinvestment of the country’s largest insurer, PTI reported, quoting a top government official.
Further, DPIIT secretary Anurag Jain said an inter-ministerial consultation on the matter is at its last stage. “Hopefully, it should happen very soon… All the comments that will come [from different departments] will be supportive [of the proposal]," he said. He also expressed hope that the Cabinet will soon take up this proposal. The DPIIT is making changes in the FDI policy to facilitate the disinvestment of LIC, after taking views from the finance ministry.
According to the current FDI policy, 74 per cent foreign investment is permitted under the automatic route in the insurance sector. However, these rules do not apply to the Life Insurance Corporation of India, which is administered through a separate LIC Act. As per Sebi rules, both foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and FDI are permitted under public offer. However, since the LIC Act has no provision for foreign investments, there is a need to align the proposed IPO with Sebi norms regarding foreign investor participation.
The government had, in September last year, appointed 10 merchant bankers, including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities Pvt Ltd, Citigroup Global Markets India Pvt Ltd, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Pvt Ltd to manage the mega initial public offering of LIC.
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