LIC

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a public sector enterprise, is India’s largest insurance company. It is the country’s largest institutional investor with total assets under management (AUMs) worth ₹45.7 lakh crore as of March 2023.

LIC was formed on September 1, 1956, after the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance Corporation Act on June 19, 1956. It had total assets of ₹411 crore and 51 lakh policies in force that year.

By FY-2023, LIC grew multifold with total assets worth more than ₹45.50 lakh crore and 27.74 crore policies in force.

In May 2022, the initial public offering (IPO) of LIC became India’s largest ever public issue. The shares got listed on the stock exchanges on May 17, 2022. The LIC share price has since fallen 7% from its listing levels. The company currently has a market capitalisation of ₹4,87,625 crore. The Government of India owns 96.5% stake in LIC (as of September 2023), with the remaining 3.5% with the public.

Business operations

LIC functions with 2,048 fully computerised branch offices, 113 divisional offices, 8 zonal offices, 1,381 satellite offices and the corporate office. These offices cover 92% of districts in India, as compared to 79% for the combined private sector. The insurer also boasts of a network of nearly 13.5 lakh agents, as of March 2023.

LIC offers a wide variety of products which fulfil the needs of different customer segments of the society. Its products include insurance plans, pension plans, unit linked plans (ULIPs), micro insurance plans, withdrawn plans and health insurance plans.

During the financial year 2022-23, LIC introduced seven new individual products -- LIC’s Bima Ratna, LIC’s Dhan Sanchay, LIC’s New Pension Plus, LIC’s Dhan Varsha, LIC’s New Tech-Term, LIC’s New Jeevan Amar, LIC’s Jeevan Azad -- and one Group Rider LIC’s Group Accident Benefit Rider.

LIC also has the following subsidiaries and associate companies operating in India:

Subsidiary Companies:

LIC Pension Fund Limited and LIC Cards Services Limited.

Associate Companies:

IDBI Bank Limited, LIC Mutual Fund Trustee Private Ltd, LIC Housing Finance Limited, LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Limited, IDBI Bank Trusteeship Services Ltd and LICHFL Asset Management Company Limited.

Overseas, LIC directly operates through its branch offices in Fiji (Suva and Lautoka), Mauritius (Port Louis) and the United Kingdom (Watford). Its overseas subsidiaries include Life Insurance Corporation (International) B.s.C. (c), Life Insurance Corporation (Nepal) Limited, Life Insurance Corporation (Lanka) Limited and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of Bangladesh Limited. Life Insurance Corporation (Singapore) Pte Limited is LIC’s only foreign wholly owned subsidiary.