Insurance regulator IRDA is satisfied with the investments of LIC in public sector banks. After a scrutiny of its investments in PSU banks, the regulator has given a clean chit to the largest domestic institution with assets of close to Rs 18 lakh crore.

• IRDA along with regulators, including the RBI and the Sebi, is conducting regulatory scrutiny of large institutions which can pose systemic risk in the economy.
• According to IRDA officials, in a total investment portfolio of around Rs 22,00,000 crore, LIC’s equity investment is just 6-7 per cent and investments in banks are still a smaller portion.
• LIC has followed the due diligence while making investment in the banks.
• LIC had made a profit of Rs 24,373 crore from the equity market in 2014-15 as against a profit of Rs 21,257 crore in the financial year 2014, which is a gain of 14.65 per cent.

Did You Know?

• The RBI which has asked banks to clean up their balance sheets by March 2017 has given them a list of some 150 accounts which had either become NPAs or are on the verge of becoming NPAs.
• Bad loans of PSU banks rose by Rs 94,666 crore during the nine months ended December 2015.
• Gross NPAs of PSU banks increased from Rs 267,035 crore in March 2015 to Rs 3,61,731 crore in December 2015. This is as much as 7.30 per cent of their total advances.