LIC of India - Life Insurance Corporation of India

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the only public sector life insurance company in India. It was founded in 1956 with the merger of more than 245 insurance companies and provident societies. LIC has its headquarters in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India and currently functions with 8 zonal offices and 113 divisional offices.

It is the largest life insurance company in India with over 2000 branches and over 14 lakh agents to solicit life insurance business in the country. LIC provides wide range of life insurance plans from pure term insurance plans to savings and investment products. It has a phenomenal presence in both urban and rural India. The motto of the company is "Yogakshemam Vahamyaham" which means - your welfare is our responsibility.

According to the Economic Times Brand Equity Survey 2012, LIC has been rated as the sixth most trusted service brand of India. It has also bagged a number of awards such as the MEIF Institutional Excellence Award 2012, Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Services Award 2011 for its health insurance product- Jeevan Arogya, and ET brand equity most trusted brand award. LIC has been continuously winning the Readers' Digest Trusted brand award from the year 2006.

LIC of India Product Portfolio

LIC Term Plans:

The most vital of life insurance products provide you with adequate life cover at nominal cost.

• LIC's Anmol Jeevan II
• LIC's Amulya Jeevan II
• LIC's e-Term
• LIC's NEW TERM ASSURANCE RIDER

LIC ULIP Plans:

These are unit linked insurance plans that give you the advantage of market linked returns.

LIC Pension Plans:

LIC plans help you provision for your old age and accumulate savings for your future.

• Jeevan Akshay-VI
• LIC's New Jeevan Nidhi
• Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana

LIC Child Plans:

Child plans helps you accumulate finances to provision for your child’s future.

• LIC's New Children's Money Back Plan

LIC Investment Plans:

These are low risk investment plans which provides guaranteed amount on maturity.

• LIC Jeevan Tarun Plan
• LIC's Single Premium Endowment Plan
• LIC's New Endowment Plan
• LIC's New Jeevan Anand
• LIC's Jeevan Rakshak Plan
• LIC's Limited Premium Endowment Plan
• LIC's Jeevan Sangam  
• LIC's Jeevan Lakshya
• LIC's New Money Back Plan - 20 Years
• LIC's New Money Back Plan - 25 Years
• LIC's New Bima Bachat
• LIC's Jeevan Tarang

Compare all LIC life insurance plans from other life insurance companies in India to get the best insurance plan that suits you most.

LIC Distribution Network:

LIC has 8 zonal offices and 113 divisional offices. It is the largest life insurance company in India with over 2000 branches and over 14 lakh agents to solicit life insurance business in the country.

Life Insurance Corporation of India- FAQ

1. How to pay a premium? What are the modes of payment available?

The Life insurance Corporation of India Ltd. offers 6 modes of premium payment namely:

• Cash/ cheque / DD payment at the branch and cash counters
• Payment at the Axis Bank
• Payment at the Corporation Bank
• Online Payment
• NEFT
• ECS
• AP online
• MP Online
• Suvidha Infoserve
• Easy bill pay
• Premium point by empowered agents
• Life plus SBA
• Retired LIC Employee collection
• Phone banking
• Authorized Service Provider (in selected cities)

For the online payment mode, the policyholder can pay via;

• Credit Card,
• Debit Card
• Net banking

2. How can I check policy status?

For online registered users, they can check the policy status by loging into the e-Portal

Altrenatively, visit the branch personally to know the policy status.

3. What is the policy renewal process?

For renewing online, follow these easy steps;

Step1: Enter your Client ID and Date of Birth to login into e-portal

Step2: Choose the policy and payment option (Net Banking/ Debit/Credit Card)

Step3: Print/save the premium deposit receipt on successful payment completion

Alterantively, you can pay via cash/cheque at any of the nearest LIC branch in your city.

4. What is the company’s process to settle claim?

For the claim settlement nominee can visit the branch personally and the customer service desk will help you there.

5. What is the policy cancellation process?

For the cancellation of the policy, you can visit the branch personally.

Life Insurance Corporation - Latest News

Life Insurance Corporation of India makes stake purchase in Bharat Forge

State owned Life Insurance Corporation of India increased its share by 2.02 % in components maker Bharat Forge. Previously, the company 5 percent stake in the company, which has now gone up to 7.02 %. As per a regulatory filing, the company purchased the additional shares of Bharat Forge between 12, 2015, and March 1, 2016.

Life Insurance Corporation of India hiked its stake by buying 47.12 lakh shares in the open market. In the past year, the maximum price of Bharat Forge shares was Rs 1362.90 and the lowest recorded level was Rs 720.65. The price earnings ratio of the stocks was 25.81.

This purchase was made following the footsteps of the recent purchase of equity made by LIC in the last financial year. The equity purchase amounted to Rs. 53,000 crore which Rs. 39,000 crore in 2014-15.

Life Insurance Corporation of India to Purchase Vijaya Bank Shares

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest government-owned life insurer in India, is expected to purchase equity shares worth Rs. 226 of Vijaya Bank, a leading state owned retail bank. This move is expected to result from the preferential equity allotment offered to LIC by Vijaya Bank in an effort to raise additional capital to expand its banking network.

Final approval from the Vijaya Bank board of directors is still awaited according to the BSE filing made by the bank. This additional stake purchase by Life Insurance Corporation of India, comes on the back of other major equity investments made by LIC in leading Indian companies.

Vijaya Bank’s proposal also adds to its previous efforts to raise capital from the market including bond sales worth Rs. 450 Crores made recently. Subsequent to this announcement, Vijaya Bank shares witnessed a 1.08% rise in stock market trading.

Road Ministry To Ask For Rs 50,000-Crore Soft-Loan From LIC For Expressway Expansion Project

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s leading financial body, is quite likely to provide a loan of about Rs. 50, 000 crore to the roads ministry on soft terms, as reported by a senior official of the transport ministry. The official further added that they would seek conditions similar to the ones offered by LIC to the railway ministry.

Here, it is expected that the loan be given in money form and the interest rate be bound by government securities or G-secs. With the Union Budget 2016 allotting around Rs. 55, 000 crore to the to the roads ministry, it still falls short of the expected Rs. 85, 000 crore. This allocation will be able to construct only about 7000 km of highways.

The remaining expansion undertaking could be fulfilled only by seeking help from financial conglomerates like LIC and other public-private partnerships. Nitin Gadkari, the road transport minister, has approved the plan, and will be holding talks with the Finance Ministry and this giant financial conglomerate.

LIC stops sales of policies in several localities due to fraudulent claims

LIC has been prompted to stop its policy sales in Ganjam in Odisha, Kubernagar in Gujarat, and some of their localities due to several fraudulent claims reported recently. The company has banned its agents from selling LIC policies more than 60 surrounding localities in order to prevent any such fraudulent claims in future.

The insurance industry has faced huge losses due to intentional administrative lapses in certain medical centres. Due to this, hospitals have also been restricted from policy sales and those medical centres have been put on the ‘watch list’ Insurance companies that have been sharing data to detect frauds in the system since past 2 years, have now got into terms with Experian and LexisNexis to check on the database and prevent frauds. Also, now the claim assessors will have to be trained on appropriate documentation of claims and claim decisions, so that, they have sufficient evidences on records to reject such fraud claims, in case they happen in future.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Emerges as a Leader in Disinvestments

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest life insurance company, has re-affirmed its position as the leading supporter of governmental disinvestment initiatives. This re-affirmation comes on the back of a stake acquisition recently made by LIC in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), one of the key public concerns currently undergoing disinvestment.

The total value of NTPC shares on sale was valued at Rs. 5,000 crores out of which, LIC purchases almost 60% of the shares offered. As a result of this big-ticket, Life Insurance Corporation now owns 12.98% stake in NTPC, which represents a stake purchase of 3.9% in NTPC in just this latest deal. Other instances of LIC buying big in recent months have included purchases of IDBI Bank and Bank of India shares, which were offered to Life Insurance Corporation of India on a preferential basis.

Life Insurance Corporation of India December Profits Decline by 30%

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest life insurer, has recorded a 30% decline in profits mainly due to continued volatility in the Indian stock market. Till the end of the third financial quarter in December 2015, the total profits of the company stood at Rs. 4,768 crores as compared to the Rs. 6,866 crores recorded during the corresponding period last year.

It has also been reported that the decline in profits of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) during the April to December period has been reported at Rs. 2098 crores. As part of the report, the breakdown of losses of Life Insurance Corporation of India across key criteria has also been reported.

The loss on sale or redemption from investments has been calculated at Rs. 293 crores during the October-December period as opposed to the Rs. 257 crores level recorded during the corresponding quarter last year.

Loan against Life Insurance Corporation Policies witness 12% Increase

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest life insurer, has reportedly witnessed a 12% increase in the number of loans it has granted to individuals against their LIC life insurance policies. This increase is mainly driven by the lower rates of interest charged by LIC on such loans as compared to the rates charged by leading banks in India.

Whereas, LIC charges from 10% to 10.5% for loans against policy, public and private sector banks charge around 11.49% to 20% for similar loans that are classified as personal loans. According to the available data, the life insurer has granted loans valued at Rs. 7,602 crores for the nine month fiscal year period ending December 31, 2015. With the grant of these additional loans during the current fiscal, Life Insurance Corporation of India’s total amount of outstanding loans against insurance policy has grown to Rs. 71,250 crores.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Snaps Up Shares worth Rs. 10,400 Crores

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the leading state-owned life insurer in India, snapped up shares valued at Rs. 10,400 crores on the stock market. The shares purchased included those of 18 firms registered on Sensex including Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and ICICI bank.

As per a recently released share holding patterns report, LIC’s holdings in five blue-chip companies registered on Sensex has witnessed a decline in the previous three months mainly due to the bear run witnessed by markets recently. Among the top buys by LIC, ICICI Bank’s shares accounted for 4.26% of the shares bought, while the insurer also holds a substantial 16.08% stake in Larsen & Toubro.

This buying spree was partially funded by selling shares worth Rs. 7300 crores of other leading companies. Shares sold by LIC included those of HDFC, Coal India, Cipla and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone.

Life Insurance Corporation of India to Purchase Stake in IDBI Bank

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the country’s largest life insurer, is expected purchase stake in Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), one of India’s leading state-owned banks. Through this sale, IDBI Bank intends to raise capital of about Rs. 1,500 crores. LIC would make purchase of this stake through the preferential issuance of shares that would be provided to the life insurer.

The sale has received board approval from IDBI Bank and the sum of Rs. 1,500 crore would include the premium amount, however, government approval for the deal is still pending. At present, Life Insurance Corporation of India along with other schemes owns a minority stake of 7.25% in IDBI Bank. IDBI Bank is also planning to issue Tier I bonds in order to raise an estimated US$500 million capital.

This purchase by LIC comes in the face of a major liquidity crunch faced by Indian public sector banks, which has recently eroded a large amount of capital held in the form of shares by Life Insurance Corporation of India and others.

LIC Loses Money In PSBs

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest insurance company, which has substantial investments in 23 public sector banks, lost Rs. 10,436 – Rs. 27, 778 crore, based on a shareholding pattern as of December 31. In effect, the total market capitalisation of 23 public sector banks has eroded by Rs 95, 741 crore - Rs 2, 55, 260 crore till date.

LIC holds greater than 10 per cent stake in 14 public sector banks. In the last quarter of 2015, when all the public sector banks were asked to identify the non-performing assets and take necessary steps to protect them, it resulted in a significant fall in the net profit. The quarter saw a loss of Rs. 10, 609 crore as against a Rs. 7, 337 crore net profit in FY 2014.

As per the findings of Morgan Stanley, this trend will continue in the next two to three quarters, owing to which stocks will be held back. A new base rate mechanism may soon be announced which will impact profitability to some extent.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Emerges as Leading Buyer in Bear Market

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s largest and oldest life insurer, has emerged as a leading buyer in equity stake in various industries and sectors during the current bear run being witnessed by stock markets in India.

The current bear run in Indian stock indices reflects the condition of global markets which are also witnessing declines due to continuously sliding commodities and oil prices. This continuous fall in equity stocks in the market has led LIC to capitalize on various undervalued stocks which it expects will recover in the recent future after markets stabilize.

According to estimates, LIC has invested an estimated Rs 53,000 crores into the equity market during the current fiscal. Apart from its equity investments, the life insurer has also made sizeable investments in the debt market to hedge its investments in uncertain market conditions.

LIC New Premium Collections Exceed Rs 1650 Crores in Uttar Pradesh

Life Insurance Corporation of India, India’s largest life insurer, has collected over Rs. 1,650 crores in new premium collections in Uttar Pradesh during the current fiscal year. This has emerged from the company’s data in UP collected during the April 2015 and January 2016 period.

The data points to new insurance policy sales of almost 1.67 million even though this year’s deficit in monsoon rains has affected new policy sales in the state. LIC currently offers 23 unique insurance plans in the state, which caters to people from all walks of life. The company has recently introduced a number of new products such as Jeevan Pregati, Jeevan Shikhar, Jeevan Labh as well as the Gram Bima scheme.

The Gram Bima scheme is being promoted by LIC in rural areas to increase its penetration in Indian villages. A portion of the premium collections from this scheme is invested by LIC in the installation of key rural infrastructure like hand pump, tube well and solar lights.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Emerges as Market Leader in Claims Settlement

January 20 ,2016 : The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s oldest insurance provider has managed to maintain its lead as the leading claims settler in the industry according to the annual report published by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA).

As per the figures published in the report, LIC’s settlement ratio was 98.19% during 2014-2015, as compared to the 98.14% settlement ratio recorded in the previous year. Additionally, the report also recorded that LIC repudiated 8,689 claims during the year as compared to the 9,486 claims repudiated by all private insurance companies put together.

Other sections of the report recorded the number of complaints registered against various insurance players. The largest class of grievances was in the unfair business practices category which constituted 52% of all complaints. The IRDA report also recorded that there has been a 25% drop in the total number of complaints lodged against insurers in 2014-2015 and 2013-2014.

Life Insurance Corporation of India and State Bank of India to Secure Bond Deal

January 25 ,2016 : Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s oldest insurance provider, and the State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest public sector bank, are expected to ink a bond deal worth an estimated Rs. 6000 Crore. This new agreement would help SBI, which has in recent years been plagued by bad loans, by providing much needed capital support.

In the current advanced stage of negotiations, the two parties are expected to agree on the rate at which the Life Insurance Corporation of India would subscribe to the SBI bank bonds. For LIC, the deal would enable it to tap into and benefit from the debt market, which is current lucrative in a regime of weak equity markets.

The planned bank bonds will have a maturity period of 10 years with a call option after 5 years. The fresh capital raised by selling these bonds would enable SBI to provide commercial and retail loans in the coming months as the demand picks up.

Life Insurance Corporation of India Launches e-Services Portal

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s leading life insurer, announced the launch of its e-services. LIC’s e-services would also include a repository services as per current updated guidelines provided by IRDAI. Through the introduction of its e-services, LIC is attempting to make it easier for its customers to access the company’s services.

This digital initiative would also help the insurer provide faster and more streamlined services to its customers all over India. Key services that can be accessed by registered customers through the e-services portal include checking of claims status, policy status, loan status and bonus status. Additionally, LIC customers can also opt for premier services like claim history, premium history, online premium facilitation, and premium due calendar among others.

By enabling such services LIC looks forward to enabling access of its services to a wider market and achieving further penetration into the Indian insurance market.

LIC’s Equity Market Investments Witness 36% Year on Year Growth

Life Insurance Corporation of India, the largest Indian insurance provider, witnessed a 36% year on year growth of its investments in the equity market. This has resulted from the insurer stepping up its equity investments in the current year, which has now reached the unprecedented level of Rs. 53,000 crores during the present fiscal year.

The increased investment in equities was carried out by LIC as the fall in share prices and key indices have made higher value equity investments more attractive from a long term investment perspective. The insurer’s current investment in government papers totaled an estimated Rs. 1.5 lakh crores and the company has also witnessed a rise in premium collections, which have together fueled the current spate of equity investments of LIC.

Currently applicable regulations stipulate that a life insurer is legally required to invest no less than 25% in securities floated by the central government, while the maximum stake that LIC can purchase in a single company is capped at 15%.

LIC Launches Jeevan Pragati Scheme

Life Insurance Corporation of India, India’s largest insurer, launched its new scheme, Jeevan Pragati from its Salem Division on the 3rd of February. The new scheme is a non-linked assurance plan featuring a risk cover that continues increasing every five years. There is no maximum limit for this scheme, however, the minimum limit has been fixed at Rs 1.5 lakhs.

The term of the Jeevan Pragati can range from 12 to 20 years and individuals between 12 years to 45 years of age are eligible for to apply for this scheme. If the policy holder survives beyond the term of the policy, the maturity benefit is a sum assured on maturity with simple reversionary as well as additional bonus – all of which will be paid out to the policy holder.

An additional feature of Jeevan Pragati is the loan option that can be obtained after three years. If required, the holder may also to choose to surrender the policy after a three year period provided all due annual premiums have been paid in full.

LIC All Set to Overshoot Premium Target in Current Fiscal

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the leader in India’s insurance industry, is all set to overshoot its premium target of Rs. 31,000 Crores in the current financial year. The hope arises from the fact that LIC has already clocked total premiums of Rs 23,000 Crores in the current fiscal and it still has almost another whole quarter to add to its numbers.

This optimism is further fuelled by the fact that LIC has witnessed a sustained growth in sales since December 2015 and the insurer hopes to clock double digit growth in the coming months. The boost has also been fueled by the introduction of LIC’s ULIP plan, New Endowment Plus, which by itself accounted for sales of 10,000 units in the current fiscal year.

Other top sellers among LIC’s current plans included the e-Term plan which clocked sales of 6,000 policies. According to market analysts, ULIP sales currently account for 50.2% of market share.

LIC Witnesses Decline in New Individual Policy Premiums

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the largest insurance provider in India, has reported a decline in its retail business in the current year. The insurer’s new individual policy premiums have dropped to 54% till December 2015 from the 72% level recorded in 2013. This drop is mainly attributed to the IT Act amendments that restrict tax breaks in insurance policies which do not feature adequate life cover.

Even with this decline, LIC still leads in India’s insurance sector with an overall share of 70% in new premiums propelled by its various group policies. The other key reason for the decline in market share over recent years is the absence of any LIC backed ULIPs for a major part of 2015. Subsequently, LIC issued its ULIP in 2015, which did boost LIC premium revenues.

However most analysts consider the insurance market to be in recession during the 2015 to 2016 fiscal, which has adversely affected new individual policy premium collections.

LIC introduced a new product, Jeevan Labh

Life Insurance Corporation of India introduced a plan, named Jeevan Labh with partial premium paying requirement on 4th January, 2016. The plan is a with-profit, non-linked Endowment Assurance plan. The Plan is accessible for people between the age of 8-59 years. The plan allows the buyer to choose amongst the policy term options of 16 years, 21 years, and 25 years.

However, the premium paying term for the options will be 10, 15, and 16 years respectively. The maximum maturity age as per the plan is 75 years If the policyholder survives till the maturity of the policy, then he would be entitled to the basic Sum Assured in addition to simple reversionary bonuses and Final Additional bonus (if any).

In case of demise of the policyholder during the term of the policy, then the death benefit which is equal to the summation of 'Sum Assured on Death’, Simple Reversionary Bonuses, and Final Additional bonus (if any) will be given to the beneficiary. The death benefit is claimed not to be less than 105% of the total amount of premiums paid till the date of death.

LIC raises its stake in the 3 listed automobile companies

Life Insurance Corporation of India has raised its stakes in Tata, Mahindra, and Maruti this year after the considerable recorded sales of passenger vehicles in the FY16. All the three automobile companies are the listed ones. The LIC of India has also purchased some additional shares in the Hero Moto Corp.

The government-run insurance provider has also booked some profit in the automobile company Ashok Leyland and slightly decreased its shareholding in Bajaj Auto and TVS Motor in the year fiscal ended on 31st March, 2016.

Interestingly, the stock prices of all the companies, except Tata Motors, have gone considerable up in the fiscal ended 31st March, 2016. A significant rise in the stock prices of in Bajaj Auto (19.26 per cent), Ashok Leyland (47.6 per cent), and TVS Motor (22.33 per cent) was recorded. The rest of the companies have experienced single-digit gains. The corporation’s decision to decrease shareholding in TVS Motors and Ashok Leyland is due to the acute run witnessed in the stocks of both the companies. An investment advisor, S. P. Tulsian said that LIC booked the profits in these companies after the hike in their stocks.

LIC to be protected as financial institution under The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill

The edition of insolvency and bankruptcy bill approved by Lok Sabha on the 5th of May has been released after all the modifications in the original bill as per the recommendations of the parliament’s joint committee.

One amongst the major additions recommended by the committee was to include the LIC of India as a financial institution in the new bill. The committee had suggested including in the bill the definition of financial institutions as per the Companies Act as the definition covers the Life Insurance Corporation.

The corporation’s inclusion is important due to a few significant reasons. The Life Insurance Corporation of India, in the financial year 2014-15 had a closing balance of Rs. 19.92 trillion, which is about 15 per cent of the country’s GDP for the year. This vast state-governed life insurance provider also has given out loans of up to Rs. 1 trillion.A report by Aman Malik in newlaundry.com held that as per a list given by the Reserve Bank of India in the end of calendar year 2015 the borrowers of LIC had defaulted on up to Rs. 66,000 Crore of loans.

LIC still a favorite in India even with the decline in market share

LIC of India (LIC) is still amongst the favorite insurance brands of the customers; however, the massive lead it enjoyed over the private insurance companies is soon to be lost. LIC being at the top is being followed by the Kotak Life Insurance Company at second position, while, the third position is being shared by Bharti AXA Life Insurance and SBI Life Insurance Company. According to a survey by IMRB International in the year 2016, it was found that about 7 out of 10 customers (69 %) are continuing their relationship with the current insurer. The loyalty rate for the previous year was only 60%.

The survey included a customer satisfaction study as well and the results point to the fact that there was greater satisfaction among insurance customers in 2016 as compared to the previous year. According to experts, the increased satisfaction is directly linked to the availability of a general acceptance of affordability and returns related to products, increased coverage provided by plan riders, as well as superior insurance products themselves. Taken together, the cumulative nature of these positives with respect to products floated by insurance providers resulted in superior levels of loyalty and satisfaction with respect to specific brands.

LIC Acquire Additional Public Sector Bank Stocks

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), India’s biggest life insurer, has made further purchase of lowly valued Public sector bank stocks. With this purchase, LIC has voiced hopes that the NPA (non-performing assets) and bad loans situation of these banks would not worsen in the future. As per the new purchase, LIC now owns additional stake in poorly performing PSU banks including Oriental Bank of Commerce,Development Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Central Bank of IndiaandAllahabad Bank. This stake increase ranges from 1-7 % as compared to the stake previously held by LIC in the above mentioned banks. This purchase brings LIC’s investment to an additional Rs2,200 crore above the investments that LIC has already made in the PSU banking sector.

As a result of this additional investment by Life Insurance Corporation of India, the net AUM (Asset under management) has decreased to $61Billion from the $ 65billion recorded in the previous quarter. According to the experts, LIC’s actions though seemingly against the prevailing marker sentiments, are part of a bigger picture, wherein the price of these undervalued PSU stocks are expected to increase in the coming years.

LIC Confirms V K Sharma As the New Chairman

V K Sharma, the acting chief of LIC, has been appointed as the new Chairman of the largest State-owned Life Insurance Provider in India. He is going to hold this position for five years.

Sharma has already started acting as the chairman of LIC, since 16th September, as the resignation of the then chairman S K Roy. Roy resigned around two years before his formal retirement. Sharma has been as the Managing director of LIC since Nov 2013.

Sharma has maintained a long-term association with LIC. Initially, he was appointed by the Government, in 1981, as the direct recruit officer. Then, he was made the Chief executive of the mortgage Subsidiary of LIC Housing Finance. He was also a zonal manager of the South Zone under LIC Housing Finance.

ACC or the Appointments Committee of Cabinet has accepted the proposal made by the Department of Financial Services to appoint V K Sharma as the chairman of LIC, for a period of 5 years, in fixed payment of Rs.80,000/-.

LIC has an asset of over Rs. 22.10 lakh Crore., which constitutes 15% of India’s total GDP of Rs. 134 Lakh Cr., thereby being considered the largest financial institution in India.

SIDBI Partners with LIC for Boosting Venture Capital for MSMEs

In a recent development, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) collaborated with state-run insurance company, Life Corporation of India (LIC), revealed various online media sources.

Sources further reveal that this collaboration is aimed at boosting the venture capital capacity for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

Presently, SIDBI funds numerous schemes under its funds operations. Some of the most popular ones include:

• India Aspiration Fund (corpus of Rs. 2000 Crores)
• ASPIRE Fund (corpus of Rs. 60 Crores)
• Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) (corpus of Rs 10,000 crore)

SIDBI and LIC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), in April 2016, in order to add further to the funds available under India Aspiration Fund. As per the MoU, LIC had committed to allotting Rs 200 crores for investments.

In its first phase, LIC and SIDBI have signed a Contribution Agreement with 7 Venture Capital Funds (VCFs). Under the MoU, LIC has signed an aggregate commitment of Rs 99.50 crores. SIDBI has already given Rs 162.75 crores to these 7 VCFs.

In the current fiscal year, SIDBI has already allotted Rs. 714 crores to 20 Alternative Investment Funds. Out of the 40 cases, recommended in 2015, 32 funds have been allotted sanction by SIDBI for Rs. 1,006.75 crores.