V K Sharma appointed LIC chief for 5 years

Sharma served as LIC's MD since November 2013; S K Roy, previous chairman, resigned in June, nearly 2 years ahead of his retirement

Government Wednesday appointed V K Sharma as the chairman of state-owned behemoth Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) for five years.

Managing Director at LIC, Sharma was already acting as chairman since September 16 when the then chairman S K Roy was relieved of his duties.

Roy had resigned in June, nearly two years ahead of his retirement.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the appointment of V K Sharma, MD, LIC, as Chairman, LIC in fixed pay of Rs 80,000 (pre-revised) for a period of five years...Or up to the date of his superannuation, or until further orders..," said an official statement.

Sharma has been serving as LIC's MD since November 2013.

Having joined the body as a direct recruit officer in 1981, Sharma has served as the chief executive of its mortgage subsidiary LIC Housing Finance and zonal manager in charge of the south zone.

Roy, appointed by previous UPA government, had resigned nearly two years ahead of the completion of his five-year term. He was serving as the chairman since June 2013.

LIC is the largest financial institution in the country with over Rs 22.10 lakh crore in assets, which is over 15 per cent of India's GDP of Rs 134 lakh crore.

With around Rs 40,000 crore profit, last fiscal, LIC is the most profitable entity in the country, next only to the RBI which transferred Rs 66,000 crore of its surplus profit to the government in the past fiscal.

With such huge asset base and practically no debt, even a 10 per cent divestment in LIC can net the government billions of dollars and can massively catapult the market capitalisation on BSE.

LIC's total income stood at Rs 4,31,435 crore, of which premium income constituted Rs 2,66,225 crore, investment income Rs 1,50,963 crore and other income Rs 14,247 crore for the financial year ended March 2016.