New Delhi: Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian exuded confidence that Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) would be listed by the fourth quarter of this year.‘…this year’s budget has Rs 1.75 lakh crores as the proceeds from privatisation. Air India is proceeding well. You must have read that there are two bids that have come. Bharat Petroleum and LIC’s listing is also, we are confident it should happen by the fourth quarter of this year, he said during an event.
I am quite confident that this year, history will look at as a very, very important year for privatisation, he said at an interactive session as part of ‘PGPMAX Leadership Summit 2021’ of Indian School of Business (ISB).
The government has recently appointed 10 merchant bankers, including Goldman Sachs (India) Securities, Citigroup Global Markets India, and Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities India, to manage the much-awaited initial public offering (IPO) of country’s largest insurer LIC.
Four law firms, including two biggest in the country, submitted bids earlier this week to advise the public listing after Centre revised the fee payment structure to make it more attractive. The shortlisted legal firms will look after everything from drafting the IPO papers to responding to regulators’ queries.
The issue is touted to be the largest ever in IPO and is expected to give a big leg-up to the Indian stock market. This stake sale will also be pivotal in meeting the Rs 1.75 lakh crore disinvestment target the Centre has set for the current financial year.
Meanwhile, a , a top official of debt-ridden Vodafone Idea has said, ‘The government has given an option to telcos to pay back interest on dues through equity and also conveyed that it has no interest in acquiring any telecom company ‘.
Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) MD-CEO Ravinder Takkar said it is clear the Centre wants the company to compete in the market and there should be at least three private service providers in the telecom sector.
I have had many many interactions across various parts of the government leading up to this announcement (telecom reforms). In all my conversations, it is absolutely clear that the government has no interest in owning or acquiring or running any other telecom company, Takkar said.
The Centre is already managing loss-making telecom firms BSNL and MTNL despite receiving a relief package of around Rs 69,000 cr in October 2019. Some experts contended the government may end up holding a “sizable” chunk (estimates varied from 26 percent to majority stake) in VIL at the end of moratorium period, if the telco opts to pay cumulative interest or annual instalments by way of equity.