LIC IPO Latest News: All you need to know about plans of Modi government

In the Budget 2020, the Modi government had announced its decision to list LIC in next fiscal. The LIC listing is aimed at bringing the revenues to the government. Now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the IPO of the state insurer LIC will bring retail investors into the picture and also assured that the government will come up with steps to simplify the tax regimes. "We are looking at an IPO for LIC which will bring retail investors in the picture," she said.

In the Budget speech, Sitharaman, noting that the government has launched Rs 103 lakh crore of infra projects, announced providing about Rs 1.70 lakh crore for transport infrastructure and accelerating highways construction to augment India's infrastructure and create jobs.

"We are coming up with steps to simplify the tax regime. We have shown our intent to move towards a simplified tax regime and corporate tax simplification and reduction is a move towards that. The tax payer charter (as announced in the Budget) is based on trust that should be there between the taxation regime and tax payers," she said at a media conference on Budget 2020-21 after interactions with industry, academia and policy makers, as per a report in IANS.

She said focus is on infrastructure for economic development and 6,500 projects across sectors under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) envisions ease of living for citizens. About Rs 22,000 crore has already been provided, as support to the NIP. Sitharaman also told the industry that the government is engaged with states and private investors to come up with an infra pipeline comprising over Rs 6,000 crore of projects. The minister added that the government will take steps so that civil offences are not treated as criminal offences and government looks forward to invest in infrastructure creation.