Some “mischievous” people are terming the proposed listing of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) “privatisation”, said Atanu Chakraborty, secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs.
He said the Centre needed to work to frame the narrative before the initial public offer (IPO), which it hoped to complete during the next fiscal year.
He was speaking at a post-Budget interaction with industry leaders organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry on Wednesday. “LIC will certainly happen next year,” he said in response to a query about timelines for the partial disinvestment announced in the Union Budget speech last week. “It takes about eight to nine months of preparations for its accounts and what kind of legal tweakings that need to be done.”
The Centre has indicated that it may need to push through an amendment in the LIC Act, 1956 before the stake sale. Currently, the government owns 100% of LIC, the country’s largest insurer. Opposition parties have objected to the divestment plan, while LIC’s employee unions have claimed that it would be “against national interest.”
LIC stock market listing: Government yet to take call on quantum of stake sale
“This is certainly a very high value item... Some amount of narrative in the public space would need to be done because some people have, can I use the word mischievous, have put it as a privatisation of LIC,” said Mr. Chakraborty.
He noted that it was time for citizens to be able to get a “richly deserved share” in the company’s wealth if they chose to invest in it, adding that the IPO would bring more discipline to the company and bring much-needed depth to the market.
“I hope we should be able to finish it by March 31, 2021. Money of course will come through, that’s less of an issue. This is a substantial chunk; that notwithstanding, bringing to public space this kind of an organisation certainly brings much more value,” he said.