LIC chairman bullish on outlook for country's markets

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) Chairman S. K. Roy said he was "very bullish" about the banking, pharmaceutical, metals and IT outsourcing sectors because of expectations for a cyclical recovery and a stabilising rupee currency.

LIC, India's biggest institutional investor, is also positive on the capital goods sector, Roy told Reuters in an interview at his spacious office in Mumbai.

"We are very bullish about the banking sector, pharma, metals, IT," Roy said.

"There are a large number of sectors about which we are very confident this year. That's based upon our outlook for the Indian economy and how these companies are likely to do."

Roy added LIC was headed for a "very good year", both in terms of its market investments and its core insurance business. The chairman said he expected growth of 12 percent in insurance premiums this fiscal year, in line with 13.4 percent last year.

LIC is India's largest life insurer and the biggest institutional investor, with assets under management of 17.69 trillion rupees (290.29 billion US dollar).

($1=60.9400 rupee)

(Reporting by Himank Sharma and Rafael Nam; Additional reporting by Aditya Kalra, Devidutta Tripathy, and Abhishek Vishnoi)