Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Tuesday made a lacklustre debut on stock exchanges. The country’s largest insurer listed at over 8 per cent discount today after a successful initial public offer (IPO) fetched Rs 20,557 crore to the exchequer last week. 

As against the issue price of Rs 949, shares of LIC listed at Rs 872, a discount of Rs 81.80 apiece, on the BSE. The stock listed at Rs 867.20, showing a discount of Rs 77 apiece, on the NSE. 

The listing price was also below the price at which shares were allotted to LIC policyholders, employees and retail investors. 

The scrip remained below the issue price throughout the trading hours and closed at Rs 873 on NSE and Rs 875.45 on BSE. 

In the intra-day trade, the shares had touched a low of Rs 860 apiece. 

Over 4.87 crore shares changed hands on NSE, while on BSE, it was over 27.52 lakh. 

With the listing, LIC got into the list of top-five most valued companies with market capitalisation of nearly Rs 5.54 lakh crore. 

LIC shares listed at a discount even as the benchmark BSE Sensex opened in positive zone and closed with a gain of over 2 per cent over previous close. 

LIC’s public issue was subscribed by nearly three times when it had closed on May 9. The shares were lapped up mainly by retail and domestic investors, even as foreign investor demand was muted. 

LIC policyholders and retail investors got the shares at a price of Rs 889 and Rs 904 apiece respectively after taking into account the discount offered. 

Talking to reporters after the listing, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that the weak debut on the bourses was due to unpredictable market conditions and suggested investors to hold on to the stock for long-term value. 

LIC Chairman M R Kumar said: “It (stock price) will pick up as we go along. I am sure a lot of people, especially the policyholders who have missed out on the allotment, will pick up the shares (in the secondary market). I don’t see any reason why it should be tepid for too long.” 

Market experts too suggested that investors should hold on to the shares, and the scrip would see an uptick in the long term.