New Delhi, Dec 20: India’s insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) owns as many as 186 buildings in the country’s financial capital Mumbai.
Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad on Monday said in Lok Sabha that some of these buildings are nearly 100 years old and repair works are being carried out by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) or LIC.
Further, he said that structural audit for 24 buildings has also been done.
Buildings for which structural audit has been carried out are Empire House, Jeevan Deep Building at Girgaon, Bombay Mutual Chamber, Canada Building, Oval View, Jeevan Udyog Building and Cresent Chambers.
“LIC has informed that it owns properties named Angrewadi, Ahilya Chawl Badamwadi, East and West Villa, Devkaran Nanjee Building and Bhatia Bhavan in Mumbai, besides 45 other properties at various locations in Mumbai, which are known as “cess buildings” as the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) levies cess on the same,” Karad said in written reply to a question in the Lower House.
With regard to redevelopment of the cess buildings, the Minister said that LIC has apprised that MHADA specifies a set of processes and options for redevelopment which are examined and followed as per the case.
The mega Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the public sector insurer is set to hit the bourses by the end of this financial year and government is expected to mop up about Rs 1 lakh crore from the listing.
Amid speculations that the listing could be delayed, the government on Monday stated that the IPO is very much on track.
“Some media speculation doubting the feasibility of LIC IPO this fiscal year is not correct. It is reiterated that plan is on course for the IPO in the last quarter of this fiscal,” Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) tweeted.
