Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s largest state-owned insurer, emerged as a powerful stabilising force for domestic equities in the September 2025 quarter, stepping in with aggressive buying during a period marked by sharp market swings and heavy foreign selling.
The insurance giant made net equity purchases of more than Rs 21,700 crore during the quarter. LIC raised its stake in 76 listed companies and trimmed exposure in 81, while also adding 13 new stocks to its portfolio for the first time. Its name, however, disappeared from the shareholding pattern of 31 companies, though it remains unclear whether the insurer fully exited these counters or if its stake simply fell below the one percent reporting threshold.
Despite the buying spree, the total market value of LIC’s listed equity portfolio slipped 1.7 percent to Rs 16.09 lakh crore at the end of September, from Rs 16.36 lakh crore in June, reflecting the broad market decline. At the close of the quarter, LIC held positions across 322 listed companies.
State Bank of India emerged as LIC’s marquee bet, with the insurer picking up 6.42 crore additional shares worth Rs 5,599 crore. It also boosted stakes in Sun Pharmaceuticals and HCL Technologies, acquiring shares worth Rs 3,226 crore and Rs 2,939 crore, respectively. Other notable increases included Pidilite Industries (Rs 2,234 crore), Coal India (Rs 2,119 crore), NTPC (Rs 1,992 crore), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles (Rs 1,904 crore), Cipla (Rs 1,686 crore) and Tata Consultancy Services (Rs 1,654 crore).
On the other side, HDFC Bank saw the steepest selling by LIC, with the insurer paring holdings worth Rs 3,130 crore. This was followed by stake cuts in ICICI Bank (Rs 2,338 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (Rs 2,243 crore). LIC also reduced exposure to Bharti Airtel (Rs 2,205 crore), Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 2,149 crore), Maruti Suzuki (Rs 2,052 crore) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 1,994 crore).
Among newly added stocks, BSE Ltd topped the list, with LIC purchasing 2.28 crore shares valued at Rs 4,637 crore. The insurer also took significant positions in Yes Bank (Rs 2,653 crore) and ABB India (Rs 2,424 crore). Other fresh bets included Varun Beverages (Rs 1,982 crore), Shriram Finance (Rs 1,492 crore) and Persistent Systems (Rs 819 crore).
Meanwhile, several prominent companies saw LIC’s shareholding slip off their registers. These included NMDC, where LIC previously held 48.58 crore shares valued at Rs 3,402 crore as of June, along with Coforge and Eicher Motors, whose LIC-held stakes in the previous quarter were worth about Rs 3,398 crore and Rs 2,943 crore, respectively. Other exits or stake reductions involved Apollo Hospitals (Rs 2,258 crore), TVS Motor (Rs 1,583 crore), Piramal Enterprises (Rs 1,583 crore), HDFC AMC (Rs 1,162 crore) and Dixon Technologies (Rs 972 crore).
Despite the churn, LIC’s top holdings remain anchored in India’s largest corporates. Reliance Industries continues to be its single biggest holding at Rs 1.38 lakh crore, followed by ITC at Rs 82,343 crore and Larsen & Toubro at Rs 67,878 crore. SBI (Rs 66,764 crore), Infosys (Rs 64,670 crore), TCS (Rs 60,916 crore) and IDBI Bank (Rs 54,757 crore) also feature among its largest equity positions.
The September quarter proved tough for Indian markets, with geopolitical tensions and foreign portfolio outflows weighing heavily on sentiment. The Sensex dropped four percent, while the Nifty slipped 3.6 percent. Broader indices fared worse, with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap gauges declining 4.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
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