Finance Ministry does not issue any direction to LIC on investment of funds: FM Sitharaman

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry does not issue any advisory or direction to LIC in connection with matters related to the investment of the LIC funds, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament on Monday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha the Finance Minister stated that the investment decisions of the LIC are taken by the LIC alone following strict due diligence, risk assessment and fiduciary compliance and are governed by the provisions of Insurance Act, 1938 as well as regulations issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from time to time.

She further contended that broadly, the LIC’s investments reflect that it invests in the top 500 companies listed on NSE and BSE, and a major portion of LIC’s investment currently is in the larger companies out of these. The book value of the LIC’s investment in Nifty 50 companies, as on 30th Sept 2025, is Rs 4,30,776.97 crore, which is 45.85 per cent of its total equity investment.

The investment functions of the corporation are verified by concurrent auditors, statutory auditors, system auditors, Internal Financial Control (IFC) auditors and the internal vigilance team. Periodical inspections are also done by the sector regulator IRDAI in this regard.

There is no direct oversight by the government on investments made by the LIC, Sitharaman said.

The Finance Minister also tabled company-wise details of LIC’s holding in Adani Group companies, which add up to Rs 38,658.85 crore as on Sept 30, 2025. This includes investments in newly acquired ACC Ltd and Ambuja Cements.

The LIC’s investment in the equity of Reliance Industries totals Rs 40,901.38 crore, which is the highest among private sector companies. This is followed by Infosys Ltd, in which the LIC has an investment of 38,846.33 crore. Tata Consultancy with Rs 31,926.89 crore, HDFC Bank (Rs 31,664.69 crore), and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Rs 30,133.49 crore) are the other top blue-chip private sector companies in which the LIC has invested, according to the data.

Similarly, the LIC has also invested in the equity of leading public sector companies across all sectors. These include the SBI, Coal India Ltd, ONGC, Punjab National Bank, and General Insurance Corporation of India.

IANS