LIC IPO | What former finance ministers have said about the insurance behemoth's share sale
The government of India is set to file draft papers for LIC IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) this week. The initial public offering (IPO) of LIC is supposed to be India’s largest public issue ever.
The government of India is set to file draft papers for LIC IPO with the Securities and Exchange Board (Sebi) this week. The initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is supposed to be India’s largest public issue ever. During her 2022 Budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 said that the much-awaited IPO of the life insurance behemoth is expected shortly. The government is aiming to raise close to $12 billion by selling a minority stake to the public. The LIC IPO has been in news earlier as well. The former finance ministers have talked about the listing of LIC publicly. Let’s take a look at what they had said. (Image: PTI)
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During an interactive meeting on Budget 2020-2021 analysis, February 3, 2020, while answering a query, former finance minister P Chidambaram spoke on FM Sitharaman’s proposal to sell a part of government's stake in LIC through an initial public offering in next fiscal years. Chidambaram said that the LIC was doing well. "They have to explain to us... why do you want to list LIC today. Is it because you think the management culture is bad? The work culture is bad? Convince us," he said: "But if the reason which the government gives is we have to collect money and therefore we want to disinvest, we will oppose it. That is a bad reason. You tell us good reasons why LIC should be listed," he added.
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In September 2016, the then Finance Minister (Late) Arun Jaitley said that if Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is listed in stock market, it would be the country’s highest valued company in terms of market capitalisation. “If LIC is listed, it would be the most valued company in the country with the highest valuation as well as one of the largest across the world,” he had said.
