After the initial public offering (IPO) of LIC, about 60% of the insurance business will be with listed companies, Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry Amit Agrawal said on Saturday.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had in July given its in-principle approval for the listing of the insurance behemoth.
The IPO of the state-owned life insurer is part of the government’s efforts to raise ₹1.75 lakh crore through disinvestment in the current financial year.
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Speaking at an event to mark Actuaries Day, Mr. Agrawal said amid global challenges, India has continued to develop as an emerging economy with a financial system that has matured, deepened and achieved scale.
The needs of this emerging India are in many ways different, he said, adding the insurance sector, over the two decades since the introduction of competition and regulation, has matured with 69 insurers today as against only eight in 2000.
“A majority of these have crossed their initial break-even phase.
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“Once the proposed listing of LIC happens, about 60% of the insurance industry business would be with listed entities. The sector as a whole has been growing at a pace significantly higher than that of the overall economy,” he said. Currently, there are four listed life insurers and two in the non-life segment. State-owned re-insurer General Insurance Corporation of India is also listed on the bourses.