LIC IPO: Govt may cut LIC IPO size by 40% on Ukraine war woes

India is looking to raise Rs 30,000 crore ($3.9 billion) through an initial public offering of state-owned Life Insurance Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter, about 40% lower than previous estimates as the war in Ukraine dents valuations.

Officials want to complete the listing — which will still be India’s biggest — in the next two weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations aren’t public. LIC will probably be valued at some Rs 6 lakh crore, the people said.

As recently as April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration was looking to raise Rs 50,000 crore by selling as much as 7% of LIC, Bloomberg News had reported. The stake sale now could be a little over 5% on muted demand from investors, the people said. Current approvals, including the draft prospectus, lapse on May 12.

Representatives for LIC and the finance ministry didn’t immediately respond to an email, message seeking comment. Business Standard newspaper had reported the revised stake sale plan earlier Friday.

The IPO would still be the country’s biggest ever, surpassing the listing of One 97 Communications Ltd., the operator of Paytm, which raised about 183 billion rupees in November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Firms in India have raised about $1.1 billion through IPOs this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s less than half of the nearly $3 billion raised in the same period in 2021.