6.48 crore policyholders keen to buy LIC IPO, says DIPAM official

Bengaluru

Ever since the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) announced unveiling of the initial public offering (IPO), 6.48 crore LIC policyholders have shown interest to get the much-touted share of the largest insurance company in the country, an official said.

“The response to our IPO launch is wonderful. We have some figures: 6.48 crore policy holders have linked their PAN number with the policy details up to the cut-off date (February 28, 2022),” Rahul Jain, director of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) in the Ministry of Finance, told reporters.

The LIC has set a price band of ₹902-949 per equity share. The government intends to raise ₹21,000 crore through the issue.

The officer said 10% reservation is given to the policyholders in the IPO, whose shares have been earmarked.

“Whosoever is the policyholder, if they have linked their PAN with the policy details by February 28, they are eligible to participate in the LIC IPO through reservation category,” Mr. Jain said.

Explaining, the DIPAM director said anybody who is a policyholder can invest up to ₹2 lakh in the reservation category and also ₹2 lakh in the retail category. The LIC policyholders would get ₹60 discount in the IPO, he added.

According to Mr. Jain, the 6.48 crore policyholders are eligible to participate in the IPO if they open their DMAT account.