LIC's IPO, India's Biggest, To Open May 4, Price Band Rs 902-949: Sources

The Life Insurance Corporation's (LIC) long-awaited public issue offer, India's biggest, will be in the price band of Rs 902-949, with a Rs 60 discount to policyholders and a Rs 45 discount for retail investors and employees, according to government sources.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) would open on May 2 for anchor investors, and on May 4 to May 9 for investors, the sources added.

On Saturday, the LIC board approved a cut in its IPO issue size to 3.5 per cent from 5 per cent, sources had said.

The government is now expected to sell 3.5 per cent of its stake in LIC for ₹ 21,000 crore, valuing the insurance behemoth at 6 lakh crore.

The government sources also said that there is an option to increase the stake offer from 3.5 per cent to 5 per cent, in which case the state's coffer will garner Rs 30,000 crore from the sale of its equity.

Whether the final offer is a stake sale of 3.5 per cent for Rs 21,000 crore or 5 per cent for Rs 30,000 crore, LIC's IPO will be India's largest ever.

Indeed, the public issue size at the lowered ₹ 21,000 crore will be larger than the amount mobilised from the IPO of Paytm in 2021, which was the largest ever at ₹ 18,300 crore, followed by Coal India (2010) at nearly ₹ 15,500 crore and Reliance Power (2008) at ₹ 11,700 crore.