The government is considering sale of shares in LIC through FPO in the next financial year

The government is actively considering further reducing its stake in insurance giant LIC through a public offer in the next financial year, Financial Services Minister M. Nagaraju said on Monday.Currently, the government has a 96.5 percent stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). It had sold 3.5 percent through an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2022 at a price range of Rs 902-949 per share. The share sale earned the government about Rs 21,000 crore.

Speaking to reporters, Nagaraju said, “LIC’s public offer should be done slowly. We have asked DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) to look into the dilution of government stake in LIC.”

“LIC FPO may come in the next financial year if all approvals are in place and market conditions are favorable,” he added.

The government needs to divest another 6.5 percent stake in the public sector life insurer to meet the mandatory requirement of 10 percent public shareholding by May 2027.

The amount of the sale of the shares, the price and the timing would be decided in due course.

The country’s largest insurer LIC has a market capitalization of Rs 5.08 lakh crore, with shares settling at around Rs 804 on the BSE on Monday. On the financial front, the state-owned insurer reported a 32 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 10,053 crore in the three months ended September 2025, compared to Rs 7,621 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The profit increase was due to a lower commission expense.

Total income improved to Rs 2,39,614 crore in the three months ended September 2025, compared to Rs 2,29,620 crore in the year-ago period.