lic: Rahul Gandhi says Modi government undervalued LIC

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the Modi government of undervaluing insurance behemoth LIC, asking why one of India’s most valuable assets was being sold at a “throwaway price”. State-owned LIC’s Initial Public Offering (IPO), the country’s biggest ever offer, opened for subscription by retail and institutional investors on Wednesday. The offer will close on May 9 (Monday).

LIC has fixed the price band at Rs 902-949 per equity share for the issue. The offer includes a reservation for eligible employees and policyholders. The retail investors and eligible employees will get a discount of Rs 45 per equity share, while policyholders will get a discount of Rs 60.

In a tweet, Gandhi said, “13.94 Lakh Employed, 30 Crore Policyholders, 39 Lakh Crore in Assets, World #1 – ROI for Shareholders. Yet, Modi Govt has undervalued LIC.”

“Why is one of India’s most valuable assets being sold at a throwaway price?” the former Congress chief said.

The Congress last Tuesday had also questioned the pricing of shares, alleging they are undervalued and being offered at throwaway prices at the cost of the trust of 30 crore policyholders.

The LIC public offer, the country’s biggest-ever IPO, was subscribed 90 per cent till noon by investors on the second day of bidding on Thursday.

Of the total, the policyholder portion was subscribed nearly three times while the reserved employees’ segment was subscribed 1.8 times, as per the data on stock exchanges.

The government aims to generate about Rs 21,000 crore by diluting its 3.5 per cent stake in the insurance behemoth.