LIC IPO: Things you need to know about India's biggest public offer

A look at LIC's journey since being set up under the LIC Act of 1956 to understand why it continues to control the bulk of India's insurance market even 20 years after its monopoly ended

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) was a baby of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s socialist sweep, which led to the nationalisation of insurance business in India in 1956. Set up under the Life Insurance Corporation Act of 1956, LIC has remained a fully government-owned corporation to this day. It was established with a paid-up capital of Rs 5 crore, and the legislation envisaged a board of not more than 16 directors to run it. 

LIC continued to enjoy a monopoly in the insurance sector for 44 years until the sector was opened up to private sector in 2000. When its