LIC IPO unlikely in March

Hyderabad: India's largest IPO is likely to miss its deadline as the central government is cautiously evaluating the likely impact of ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine on LIC IPO this month. "'If global considerations warrant that I need to look at LIC IPO, I wouldn't mind looking at it again," says Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister.

The government's decision to review will affect the schedule of the mega public offering, India's largest, which made up the biggest portion of India's $10.4-billion asset-sale program aimed at bridging the budget deficit for the year through March 31, 2022. The government filed IPO document on February 13 and set a March deadline for the IPO. As per the IPO document, LIC's embedded value at Rs5.4 trillion. India may take another look at the timing of Life Insurance Corp. of India's initial share sale, the state-owned insurer, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a media interview.