National Insurance Eyes March IPO, May Raise Up To Rs 5,000 Crore
NIC is hopeful that the IPO would hit the market by March.
State-run insurer National Insurance Company is expecting to receive between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore from the proceeds of its planned initial public offer, industry sources said.
NIC, wholly owned by the government, would be seeking the amount to shore up its capital base in order to maintain solvency margins, the sources said. The quantum of stake dilution would be decided by the government, they said.
K Sanath Kumar, chairman and managing director, said the non-life insurer had submitted its request to sector regulator IRDA last week after getting the requisite clearance from the government. “After the IRDA approval, government will decide on the stake dilution and form,” he said.
He added that NIC is hopeful that the IPO would hit the market by March next year as the non-life market is now quite active. Kumar said that NIC has been able to improve the solvency margins by increasing the networth.
The networth has been increasing by the NCD (Non Convertible Debentures) issue of Rs 900 crore and also by way of increasing the book value.K Sanath Kumar, CMD, NIC
NIC has also submitted a roadmap to the government and the regulator, he said. This year, NIC is aiming at a premium income collection of Rs 16,000 crore compared to Rs 14,256 crore last fiscal, he said.