LIC IPO lifted by domestic investors, example of Atmanirbhar Bharat: DIPAM secretary

Terming LIC IPO as an example of Atmanirbhar Bharat in the context of Indian stock markets, DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Monday said this issue has been predominantly lifted by domestic investors.

The initial public offering of the country's largest insurer LIC closed on Monday, getting over-subscribed nearly 3 times. While the institutional investors' portion was subscribed 2.83 times, the retail investors' portion was subscribed 1.99 times.

The portion reserved for policyholders and employees was subscribed 6.12 and 4.40 times, respectively, while the corporate portion was subscribed 2.91 times.

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Briefing reporters, the secretary in the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) said this issue has been predominately lifted by domestic institutions.

"You can project this issue as an example of Atmanirbhar Bharat...this big issue has seen interest from people across different segments It shows that the capacity of the Indian capital market has increased substantially and it also shows that we can run our own capital market without depending on foreign investors," he said.

To a question about foreign investors not coming in large numbers, Pandey said: "Like all other investors, foreign institutional investors also take their own call Foreign investors are also welcome and some of them did participate in the issue".

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The government sold a 3.5 percent stake in LIC through the IPO at a price band of Rs 902-949 a share. The government expects to garner around Rs 20,000 crore from the share sale.

Bidders in LIC IPO will be allocated shares on May 12, and the insurance behemoth shares will be listed on stock exchanges on May 17. When asked if LIC would continue to be dictated by the government post-listing, Financial Services Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said it has been a board-driven company and going forward, it would be professionally managed.

Decisions would be taken in the interest of policyholders who are supreme. On the other hand, shareholders' interests will also be balanced, he added. Following the dilution, the government's stake in the insurer will come down to 96.5 percent.