Currently, the insurance is led by a chairman, but that position will be eliminated after the current occupant's tenure ends in March, according to the authorities.
Digital Desk: To modernise its largest insurance following a disastrous stock market debut, India plans to name a professional from the private sector as the Life Insurance Corporation of India's first chief executive.
It would be a first in the 66-year history of India's largest insurer, which oversees assets valued at 500.69 billion dollars and 41 trillion rupees.
According to a government official who declined to be named because the conversations are private, "the government is planning to widen the eligibility criteria for nomination of LIC CEO so that private sector applicants can apply."
Email inquiries were not answered by the Ministry of Finance, which is in charge of the LIC.
Currently, the insurance is led by a chairman, but that position will be eliminated after the current occupant's tenure ends in March, according to the authorities.
After that, they claimed, the government will choose a chief executive from the private sector. To make this possible, the law that oversees the LIC was modified last year.
The other government official, who also chose not to be named, said that the change would provide shareholders with additional options and send positive signals.
Which field the appointment might come from was not specified by the officials.
Since the insurer was listed on the stock market in May of last year, its share price has fallen significantly. It now trades 30% below the price at which the shares were initially issued, wiping out roughly 2 trillion rupees ($24.31 billion) in investor capital.
The notion of expanding the pool of people qualified to lead the insurance outside sibling, state-run enterprises was endorsed by a former finance secretary named Subhash Chandra Garg.
There is no damage, and this is a totally sane move, according to Garg.
“The government was deciding if more changes to the law were necessary and whether it could offer remuneration that was competitive with the private sector even though a decision to hire from the private sector had been taken in principle,” the first official stated.
In general, Private firms pay more than government agencies.
To other state-run organisations, such as banks, the government has in the past appointed individuals from the private sector.
Continue Reading
