New Delhi. The Central Government can sell 2 to 3 percent of its stock in Life Insurance Corporation i.e. LIC. Sources quoted this news by business newspaper Mint. According to Mint’s news, in the financial year 2025-2026 itself, the central government intends to sell its stake in LIC. However, the condition of the stock market is bad. In such a situation, it is not yet decided when the government will sell its stake in LIC. Sources told Mint that the government wants to sell its 10 per cent stake in LIC by 2027. The central government currently holds 96.5 per cent stake in LIC. LIC had earlier entered the stock market in 2022. LIC then earned around 21000 crores by selling 3.5 percent shares through IPO.
Sources told the newspaper that the part of its stake in LIC can be sold in pieces instead of lump sum by the central government. For this, the condition of the stock market should be good. Mint has quoted a source as saying that the government wants to lead LIC in the stock value by selling its stake. This will also increase the market capital of LIC. However, selling stake will also affect the market. Quoting the source, the newspaper has said that the central government is preparing to sell its stake in 2 pieces instead of lump sum. So that the insurance company can get more investment if the stock market performs better. The source said that if the condition of the stock market does not improve, the central government can also delay in selling its stake in LIC.
The Finance Ministry’s Investment and Public Electricity Management Department i.e. Deepam has recently sought a tender from merchant bankers and legal advisors to sell the share of several public sector banks and other financial institutions including LIC. According to Deepam, this stake will be sold in the next 3 years. If you talk about LIC shares, then it is running close to 750 rupees. LIC’s market cap is 4.8 trillion rupees. If the central government sells 2 to 3 percent stake, then LIC can get 9500 crores to 14500 crores. SEBI had earlier fixed 10 per cent private investment deadline in LIC by May 2024. It was later extended to 16 May 2027.
