LIC Public Issue | Filing with SEBI likely today, IRDAI clears draft papers

The nationalization of the life insurance business in India was a result of the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, which had created a policy framework for extending state control over at least 17 sectors of the economy, including life insurance.

Life Insurance Corporation of India's initial public offering (IPO) is expected to file its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) on February 11, sources told CNBC-TV18.

It has learned that the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) had cleared the LIC IPO proposal in a board meeting on February 9.

The quantum of divestment and EV numbers will be mentioned in the DRHP, it said.

Also Read: LIC IPO will create new precedents, new issues of corporate governance

While presenting the Union Budget for 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told the Parliament that the initial public offering of Life Insurance Corporation of India is expected shortly.

Also Read: LIC IPO | A lookback at 30 years of disinvestment in India

Recently Bloomberg reported that the government is looking for a valuation of $203 billion for the life insurance giant, which will make it the second-largest listed company by market capitalisation.

The government is said to be mulling a two-part IPO of LIC due to apprehensions over the equity market's ability to absorb such a large primary issue at one go.