"Had To Fill Gaps In LIC's Internal Systems Before IPO": Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the there were gaps in the internal systems of the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) before the public sector company's IPO. 

"Needed to fill gaps in internal systems of LIC before IPO," Ms Sitharaman said in an exclusive interview with NDTV.

"I worked hard to fill the gaps. Public undertakings since 91 are trying to bring in internal professionalism, but there was not much market orientation," she added.

LIC, the country's largest insurer, was listed in May 2022. The government had sold over 22.13 crore shares or a 3.5% stake in LIC through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The government still holds 96.5% stake in the company.

Earlier this month, LIC surpassed State Bank of India (SBI) to become India's most-valued PSU firm by market valuation.

Presenting the Budget yesterday, the Finance Minister resisted the temptation of spending trillions of rupees on schemes for the poor in its last budget before an election and instead stuck to the path of fiscal consolidation to attract investors.

In her first post-Budget interview to a private channel, Ms Sitharaman told NDTV that people's faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unwavering and this gave the government the confidence to focus on maintaining fiscal discipline without reducing the allocation for welfare schemes