The legal hurdle in the IPO of Life Insurance Corporation of India is now slowly coming to an end. The Central Government has amended the Life Insurance Corporation of India Development Officers Rules, 2009. Now in LIC, the word ‘Corporation’ will be removed and ‘Board’ will be used. With this, now the head of LIC will be called ‘Chief Executive Officer’. Till now he was called ‘Chairman’. Changes have also been made in the LIC Act, 1956, which has also been notified by the Department of Finance. Before the IPO, the central government has also amended the rules related to the LIC Act.
The post of Managing Director in this government insurance company will continue as before. The Central Government will appoint the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) in LIC. This month, the tenure of LIC’s current chairman MR Kumar has been extended by two years. At present LIC has four Managing Directors – Vipin Anand, Mukesh Kumar Gupta, Raj Kumar and Siddharth Mohanty.
Government seeks proposal for IPO listing management
The government has also sought proposals for appointment of investment bankers, legal advisors, registrars and share transfer agents (RTAs) to manage the LIC IPO. It is believed that LIC’s IPO can be the biggest listing of any Indian company.
Let us tell you that last week, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the LIC IPO. In media reports, it is being claimed by quoting government sources that LIC’s IPO may come by March 2022. Only the Group of Ministers will decide what percentage of government stake in LIC will be sold.
Government will meet the target of disinvestment through LIC IPO
Presenting the budget for the financial year 2020-21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government is going to sell its stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India. The proposed sale of LIC’s stake will be done through IPO. Through the listing of LICO IPO, the government wants to meet the target of disinvestment. The central government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 lakh crore for the current financial year.
To which countries is the business of LIC spread?
Apart from India, LIC has three branches in foreign countries as well. These branches are in the United Kingdom, Fiji and Mauritius. Apart from this, there is also a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore and joint ventures in Bahrain, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Talking about the subsidiary of LIC in India itself, it has LIC Pension Fund Limited and LIC Cards Services Limited. The associates of LIC are IDBI Bank Limited, LIC Mutual Fund and LIC Housing Finance Limited.
