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The central government is once again preparing to sell part of its stake in the country’s largest insurance company LIC. According to reports in the first phase of disinvestment Life Insurance Corporation may sell about 3 per cent of its shares. Motilal Oswal and IDBI Capital are likely to act as bankers for this offer-for-sale. A Business Today report quoting sources said the government plans to begin roadshows in the next two weeks to promote its planned disinvestment in LIC. In the first phase it is considering selling between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent of its stake. However the exact percentage of shares to be sold and the offer-for-sale price will be finalised only after the roadshows are completed. Government’s disinvestment target Currently the government holds 96.5 per cent stake in LIC. Market regulator SEBI has directed the insurer to increase its public shareholding from 3.5 per cent to 10 per cent by May 16 2027. For FY26 the central government’s overall disinvestment target is Rs. 47000 crore and selling part of its stake in LIC could be a major step toward achieving it. Reports estimate that in the first phase of the LIC stake sale the government could raise between Rs. 14000 crore and Rs. 17000 crore. LIC’s share price On Tuesday despite overall gains in the stock market LIC’s share price fell sharply. The stock opened at Rs. 916 rose briefly to Rs. 920 in early trade but then declined throughout the day closing 3.24 per cent lower at Rs. 886.85. With this drop LIC’s market capitalisation fell to Rs. 5.59 lakh crore. Stake sold earlier through IPO This is not the first time the government has sold part of its stake in LIC. In May 2022 it sold 2.5 per cent of its total equity through the LIC IPO. The issue opened for subscription on May 4 2022 and closed on May 9 2022. The IPO was subscribed nearly three times helping the government raise Rs. 20557 crore from the sale.