LIC left with two serving MDs as Dinesh Pant joins Irdai as actuary member

Dinesh Pant has been appointed whole-time director, actuary, at Irdai, reducing the number of serving managing directors at LIC to two

As the Union government grants voluntary retirement of services (VRS) to Dinesh Pant, managing director (MD) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the number of serving MDs in the company has fallen to two.

 

The state-owned insurance giant has four MD posts, apart from the managing director and chief executive officer (MD & CEO) post.

 

Pant has been appointed whole-time director, actuary, at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), leaving one of the MD positions vacant. Earlier, one of the MDs, Sat Pal Bhanoo, retired on 31, 2025, and that position has been vacant since.

 

Currently, apart from MD & CEO R Doraiswamy, the insurer has two MDs — Ratnakar Patnaik and R Chander — leaving key decision-making to three senior executives.

 

Irdai currently has four whole-time members — Swaminathan Iyer, member, life; Deepak Sood, member, non-life; Girija Subramanian, member, distribution; and Rajay Sinha, member, finance — apart from Ajay Seth as chairman. Pant will take charge as member, actuary, becoming the fifth member.

 

During the earnings media call after the Q1 FY27 results, Doraiswamy said, “We have taken up the vacancies with the government and expect them to be filled soon.”

 

According to the LIC Act, four is the maximum strength of MDs allowed; however, it is not mandatory to have all vacancies filled at all times. Also, in October 2025, the government opened one MD post in the insurer to eligible candidates from both the private and public sectors.

 

LIC is the largest life insurer in the country, with total premium income of ₹5.36 trillion in FY26 and assets under management (AUM) of ₹57.29 trillion.  

Incidentally, the body that selects board members in state-owned banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions is headless for close to three months.

 

The chairman post in the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB) has been vacant since Bhanu Pratap Sharma’s term ended in June this year. Also, several vacancies have existed in the non-government members' posts since June 30. At present, there are only three members for selection of board members in public sector insurers – department of financial services secretary Sanjay Lohiya, Irdai chairman Ajay Seth and K. Moses Chalai, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance .

 

The FSIB came into effect on July 01, 2022, for the purpose of recommending persons for appointment as whole-time directors and non-executive chairpersons on the Boards of financial services institutions.