The government will remain the majority shareholder and will continue to retain management control safeguarding the interest of policyholders, he said.

"In the Finance Bill 2021-22, it has been proposed to have a reservation on a competitive basis, to an extent of up to 10 per cent of the issue size, in favour of life insurance policyholders of LIC," Thakur said in a written reply to a query in the Rajya Sabha.

In her Budget Speech 2021, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) would be launched in the next financial year, beginning April 1.

The LIC Amendment Act has been made part of the Finance Bill, thereby bringing the required legislative amendment for launching IPO of the country's largest life insurer.

The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), which manages the government's equity in state-owned companies, has already selected actuarial firm Milliman Advisors for ascertaining the embedded value of LIC.

Deloitte and SBI Caps have been appointed as pre-IPO transaction advisors.

The initial public offering of LIC may hit the market in the fourth quarter of next financial year, and the government has introduced amendments to the Life Insurance Corporation Act 1956 to facilitate this, Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj said on 03 February.

As many as 27 amendments have been pushed through the Finance Bill 2021 tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday along with the Union Budget 2021-22.

"Probably in the third or fourth quarter of next financial year, depending on how soon the valuation comes," he told PTI in an interview.

On Monday, the finance minister announced that the initial public offer (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will take place in the next financial year.

Currently, the government owns a 100 per cent stake in LIC. Once listed, LIC is likely to become the country's biggest company by market capitalisation with an estimated valuation of ₹8-10 lakh crore.

The Budget 2021-22 has set a disinvestment target of ₹1.75 lakh crore, higher than the ₹32,000 crore estimated to be garnered in the current fiscal. Of the ₹1.75 lakh crore, ₹1 lakh crore is to come from selling government stake in public sector banks and financial institutions, and ₹75,000 crore would come as CPSE disinvestment receipts.