Not Planning To Privatise LIC, IPO Only To Enhance Market Share, Attract Investments: Anurag Thakur

Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur has assured that the central government is not intending to privatize the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

He mentioned that an initial public offering (IPO) of the life insurer has been planned only to enhance its market share and to attract further investment that will lead to better prospects of the policy holders.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Thakur clarified that the share dilution of the LIC has not been figured yet and mentioned that nobody is losing their jobs due to the proposed IPO.

The 46-year-old reminded the opposition that the Narendra Modi-led central government had introduced moratorium on loan repayments to banks during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, they can also provide relief to people who face issues in continuing with LIC premium payments.

Thakur added that the state-owned insurance company had generated a surplus of Rs 48,436 crore in 2017-18 and ended up sharing Rs 46,014 crore out of that sum with its policy holders. The rest of the Rs 2,421 crore was kept with the government, Times of India reports.

Similarly, a surplus of Rs 53,954 crore was produced by the LIC in 2019-20. The general insurer shared Rs 51,257 crore from that with its policy holders whereas the government pocketed the remaining Rs 2,697 crore.