Why has LIC been selling so heavily in Indian stocks in the recent past?

In the quarter ended Mar-21, LIC has cut its stake overall in Indian companies. In fact, LIC’s shareholding slumped to a historic low of just about 3.66% of the market capitalization of all publicly traded companies. This was disclosed by Prime Database. That is not surprising because LIC has bene cutting exposure to equities since Jun-20. LIC holding in Indian companies had touched a record of 5% in 2012.

LIC still holds 76% of all insurance company holdings in Indian equities. The market value of its equity portfolio is about Rs724,000 crore or about $100 billion. Stocks like Bajaj Auto, Rail Vikas Nigam, Biocon, Aurobindo and Adani Total Gas saw a spike in LIC holdings. What is interesting is that even the MF holdings in Indian companies fell to 7.23%.