LIC IPO may only be delayed by a few days: Govt official

The mega initial public offer of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) may be delayed by a few days only, and not pushed back significantly if market conditions improve and remain stable, a senior Finance Ministry official told Business Today TV.

"The IPO will definitely happen soon, if not by March 31, then within days in April", the official said.

“We are watching the markets and keeping track of the volatility. We hope to execute the issue soon”, another official added.

The government has time till May 12 to launch the LIC issue with the current prospectus that is valid till May 12.

If this deadline is not met, the valuation will have to be reworked and a fresh draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) will need to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) with updated financial results.

The market regulator, SEBI has given an initial approval to the DRHP.

The issuer will now begin the process of finalising the prospectus, including the valuation details and the issue price.

The government had set a March deadline for the IPO. Earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that while she would like to go ahead with the LIC IPO as planned, she wouldn’t mind relooking it given the global situation.

LIC, which was formed six decades ago when India's insurance sector was nationalised, is the largest insurance company in India, with over 280 million policies and a dominant 60 per cent plus market share.