New Delhi: The government is emphasizing on bringing the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of insurance company Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) by next March, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
During a recent interview with Bloomberg, the Minister said that any delay in this will not be due to lack of political will.
When asked if it will manage to complete within the current financial year, the Minister replied,'' We are giving full emphasis on doing it''.
The Minister further said that the difficulty is not that we do not want this; the question is about doing the process. She said the internal assessment, which is required almost annually for a company of the size of LIC, has not been done yet.
''The 65-year-old insurance company has not been evaluated yet, so the process will take time. The delay or the time it is taking is not happening due to lack of political will to go ahead with the policy,'' she added.
In February last year, it was announced to sell the shares LIC
In February 2020, the Finance Minister had announced to sell shares of the company. However the due COVID pandemic it was delayed. The minister had revived the offering in February this year. But the valuation report, -- which is a key for bankers and investors -- is yet to be finalised. In this regard, the government has appointed bankers and consultants for the sale of shares and held meetings with stakeholders.
Since, the LIC is a large insurer body which holds more than $ 511 billion of assets
The insurance company which holds $ 511billion assets and which is the size of India's mutual fund industry and controls more than two-thirds of the country's market has been under valuation for months. The government is trying to raise Rs 10 trillion ($133 billion) by selling 10 percent of its shares. The sale of 5 percent stake would make it India's largest IPO, while a 10 percent decline would make it the world's second largest insurance company.
Apart from this, Nirmala Sitharaman said that India is in no hurry to withdraw the stimulus given to support the economy. He said that the government wants to ensure that the country remains on the path of growth.
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