FM Nirmala Sitharaman reviews progress on planned LIC IPO

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reviewed the progress of preparations with senior officials on Friday, with the massive initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) set to hit the market before March 31.

“Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman evaluated the progress of the LIC IPO today (Friday) in New Delhi in the presence of @SecyDIPAM; Secretary @DFS India and Senior Officials @LICIndiaForever and @FinMinIndia through VC,” the finance ministry tweeted.

The LIC IPO might entail the dumping of up to 10% of the insurer’s government interest as well as some new stock issuance to fund the insurer’s expansion aspirations. While the insurer’s valuation will be revealed closer to the IPO, it is estimated to be about Rs 8-11.5 lakh crore, which means a 10% stake sale may net the government Rs 80,000-1,00,000 crore.

For the government to close the gap in disinvestment receipts in the current fiscal year, the LIC IPO is critical. With the delayed privatization of BPCL, a petroleum retailer and refiner, the government would fall short of its ambitious disinvestment target of 1.75 lakh crore for the current fiscal year.

Tatas won the bid to buy Air India in October by providing Rs 18,000 crore as enterprise value (EV) payment. The privatization of Air India is expected to be completed by the end of January.