FM Nirmala Sitharaman reviews progress of proposed LIC IPO

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday reviewed the progress of the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The review comes amid hectic preparations for the upcoming budget.

The government has set a target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds, including the LIC IPO, in the ongoing fiscal year.

Any change in the listing would have a wide impact on the government's fiscal math for the financial year, with the fiscal deficit pegged at 6.8% of GDP.


The review meeting was attended by finance secretary T V Somanathan, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam), Debasish Panda, secretary, financial services and senior officials of LIC.

On Thursday, industry secretary Anurag Jain said the government was making changes in its foreign direct investment (FDI) policy to facilitate disinvestment of the country's largest insurer.

"So, we would be coming out with a revised FDI policy which will facilitate LIC disinvestment," he had said.

The Cabinet had in July last year approved the IPO and the stake sale is being planned in the ongoing quarter. It is expected to be the biggest ever in the Indian market, at about Rs 1 lakh crore.