LIC IPO in early March, Neelachal Ispat Nigam sale soon: DIPAM Secretary

The government is counting on the sale of shares in LIC, which has the lion’s share of the life insurance market in India, to fill the fiscal deficit this year.

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), India's largest insurer, could launch its jumbo initial public offering (IPO) in early March, a top government official told CNBC-TV18 on January 27, adding that the government is also giving finishing touches to the sale of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited.

“We are very sanguine about bringing the LIC IPO in early March,” said Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey.

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The listing of LIC is poised to be India's biggest IPO to date, with the government looking to raise up to  Rs 1 lakh crore by selling shares. That would beat the roughly five times Rs 18,300 crore that payments company Paytm raised in November.

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On Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited, Pandey said, the sale is going to be closed in a matter of days. In December, the government received financial bids for strategic bids for the Odisha-based company that produces iron and steel.

The government is counting on the sale of shares in LIC, which has the lion’s share of the life insurance market in India, to fill the fiscal deficit this year.