LIC Business Empire – Full Details

In this Post, We will Give You Full Information About The LIC Business Empire. In Mumbai Have a Special Building Named ‘Yogakshema’ This is the head office of Life Insurance Corporation of India, India’s Biggest insurance company, From the outside LIC, might look like a modest Insurance company, but LIC is much much bigger, LIC total assets are more than The Famous Companies Such as Apple, General Electric and even ExxonMobil.

Before we begin to understand the journey of LIC. let turn back time to 1818, and reach the city of joy, Kolkata. That year the first life insurance company on Indian soil, Oriental Life Insurance was established. The company catered mainly to the European community, with Indians compelled to pay a higher rate. Later many smaller insurance companies started cropping up all over India. Time went by and in 1947, India finally gained its Independence. At midnight in the parliament building, the new India began its Tryst With Destiny.9 years later, in the same parliament, between all the energetic discussions & debates, the government took a major decision. Life Insurance of India Act was passed, which nationalized the life insurance business in India. In the next 3 months, over 200 private life insurers were merged to form a new government-owned entity called, Life Insurance Corporation of India.

LIC started with a capital of only $10 Million, but now 6 decades later LIC’s total assets have leapfrogged to over $440 billion. Which is higher than the GDP of around 75% of the countries in the world and also all the mutual funds in India, combined. Moreover, LIC has such a massive customer base that if all LIC customers were one country, that would have been the 4th largest country in the world. So without any further delay, let’s sit back and witness, the massive business empire of LIC.

We will first travel to vibrant Kenya & reach the capital city of Nairobi. Here we will find Ken India house, the head office of the largest non-life insurer in Kenya, which is partly owned by LIC. Moving to scenic Mauritius, we will reach LIC Center at Port Louis. Here in Mauritius, LIC has been operating for the past 6 decades and was also the first life insurer in the secluded Rodrigues island. From the beaches of Mauritius, let’s move to the desert sands of Bahrain.LIC International is one of the leading life insurance companies in Bahrain. Moreover, this jointly owned company is also popular in nearby UAE, Kuwait, and Oman. Furthermore, LIC also operates in Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Singapore, United Kingdom and is also one of the leading life insurers in the island nation of Fiji. From alluring Fiji, it’s time to finally reach India.

Here, other than, the life insurance business, LIC also owns one of India’s largest housing finance companies, a mutual fund, a pension fund, offers credit cards, and also owns a majority stake in industrial development bank, IDBI. LIC is so huge, that it employes over a million agents and pays over $2.5 billion, just in commissions, every year. Not only that, but LIC is also India’s biggest institutional investor and holds significant minority stakes in a mammoth list of companies. In this post, we will Read, just a few of those companies. To understand LIC’s investment portfolio. To Understand Better ( Imagin ) Let’s assume we are going for a walk.

After walking few steps, at the corner we will find a bank. Talking about banks, LIC holds over 9% stake in ICICI, Axis Bank, and also India’s largest bank, State Bank of India. Furthermore, LIC also holds a significant minority stake in Yes Bank, Punjab And Sindh Bank, PNB, Union Bank of India, and Canara Bank. After walking few more steps, we will find sky soaring buildings, all around us. These are the modern marvels of steel and concrete. Talking about steel, LIC owns around 9% stake in Tata Steel and Steel Authority Of India. And in the case of Cement, LIC has minority holdings in ACC, Ambuja Cements & also India’s biggest cement company, Ultra Tech Cement. Moreover, as we are now talking about construction, LIC is also the largest shareholder of India’s biggest construction company, L&T.

Enough of walking, now let’s drive a car. We have two options, we can choose India’s biggest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, or India’s leading SUV manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra. By the way, Mahindra & Mahindra is also the highest-selling tractor brand in the world. Whichever brand we choose, LIC owns over 5% stake in both these companies. But what if instead of a car. we want to ride a motorbike.

In that case, too, LIC owns a significant stake in Bajaj Auto, TVS, and also the world’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp. Now as we are driving our motorcycle towards the setting sun.

Q: What if we run out of fuel?

Talking about fuel, LIC owns a minority stake in major oil marketing companies that include ONGC, BPCL, GAIL, Castrol India, and also India’s largest commercial oil company IndianOil. Now we have reached a grand hotel, ITC Maratha owned by the Indian Company ITC group.ITC operates over 100 luxury hotels across India, is Asia’s largest cigarette manufacturer, owns major personal care brands like Fiama, Vivel, Savlon & is also one of India’s biggest sellers of branded foods. The second-biggest shareholder of this mammoth ITC Group is, LIC.  From ITC now let’s talk about IT, Information Technology.

LIC also owns over 4% stake in Infosys, Wipro, and also India’s biggest IT company, TCS, which is valued at around $100 billion in market cap.

Let’s make a quick phone call. The mobile network we are using is JIO, the third-largest mobile network in the world. Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, the largest publicly traded company in India, which also operates the largest crude oil refinery in the world. And yes, LIC also holds around a 6% stake in Reliance Industries. Now if we look at the sky, we might locate the light combat aircraft Tejas, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics. Around 7% of shares of Hindustan Aeronautics are owned by LIC. Moreover, LIC also owns around a 10% stake in India’s largest power generation equipment manufacturer, BHEL. Now finally, it’s time to reach our last stop. We are now outside the ( NSE ) National Stock Exchange India, the place where the fortunes of big companies change daily. The companies which are traded on NSE include the telecommunications service provider, MTNL.

• India’s leading biscuit company, Britannia Industries

• India’s biggest footwear manufacturer, Bata India

• India’s largest private multi-port operator, Adani Ports.

• The world’s largest producer of ( VRF ) Viscose rayon fiber, Grasim Industries.

Q: what is common between all these companies?

Yes, LIC holds a substantial minority stake in all of them. Not only that, but LIC also has over a 12% stake in the National Stock Exchange itself. But still, all these investments form a small portion of LIC’s total assets. As LIC is also the biggest investor in Indian Government bonds. The money from these Government bonds is used to fund various national expenses & projects. Moreover, LIC also provides funding to India Railways, operates a community development foundation, and has also recently donated over Rs. 100 crores, to the PM Cares Fund. Looking closely at this 6-decade old company, one realizes, how LIC is impacting almost every part of the Indian economy. So in the end, all I can say, this is LIC’s massive Business Empire.

Previous Post:-

Aditya Birla Group Family Business Empire