LIC share price in focus: Govt mulls stake sale via FPO; details, key numbers you need to know

The government is mulling selling the stake through a public offering in the next financial year, Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju said on Monday.

Currently, the government holds a 96.5% stake in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). It had sold 3.5% through an initial public offering (IPO) in May 2022 at a price band of ₹902-₹949 per share. The share sale fetched the government around ₹21,000 crore.

Talking to reporters, Nagaraju said, "LIC public offer has to be done slowly. We have asked DIPAM (Department of Investment and Public Asset Management) to look at government stake dilution in LIC."

"LIC FPO may come in the next financial year if all approvals are in place and market conditions are conducive," Nagaraju added.

How much more does the government need to offload?

The government is required to offload another 6.5% stake in the public sector life insurer to meet the mandated 10 per cent public shareholding requirement by May 2027.

The quantum of stake sale, price and timing would be decided in due course.

The country's biggest insurer, LIC, has a market capitalisation of ₹5.08 lakh crore, with shares settling at around ₹804 on the BSE on Monday.

LIC Q2 FY26 Earnings

State-owned insurer LIC reported a 32% jump in net profit to ₹10,053 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, aided by a lower commission outgo.

The country's biggest insurer had reported a net profit of ₹7,621 crore in the year-ago period.

The total income improved to ₹2,39,614 crore in the latest September quarter compared to ₹2,29,620 crore in the year-ago period, LIC said in a regulatory filing.

Its net premium income increased to ₹1,26,479 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal year from ₹1,19,901 crore in the same period a year ago.

During the quarter, renewal premium moved up to ₹64,996 crore as against ₹61,910 crore in the same period a year ago.

However, first-year premium during the period fell to ₹10,836 crore from ₹11,201 crore in the second quarter of last financial year.

The decline in first-year premium was witnessed despite the government exempting individual life insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 18% effective September 22.

"We at LIC are very optimistic about the positive impact of the GST changes announced for the insurance industry by the Government of India during September 2025. It is our firm belief that these changes are in the best interest of customers and will lead to further accelerated growth of the life insurance industry in India," the company's CEO and MD, R. Doraiswamy, said.

LIC has ensured that all intended benefits of GST changes are passed onto the customers, the CEO said.