Lack of ‘political will’ won’t delay LIC IPO: Nirmala Sitharaman

India’s finance minister said they plan to finish the IPO by March.

The lack of "political will" will not be the reason for any delay in the initial public offering of the state-backed Life Insurance Corp. of India as the government said it is determined to finish the deal by March.

In a report by Bloomberg, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said they are pushing to have it done and that the problem does not lie with the government as it is more a question of doing the due process.

Sitharaman said that the valuation that’s needed almost annually for a company of LIC’s size hasn’t been done. She also said that the process will take time given that the 65-year old insurer has not been valued before.

The government plans to raise $133b in the sale of the IPO, marking India’s largest IPO to date.