LIC Wants First Right On SUUTI Stake In UTI Bank

Mumbai: Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), the public sector life insurer, seeks government to give it the first right to buy the 27.47 per cent stake held by Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) in UTI Bank, a mid-sized private sector bank. It makes sense for an insurance company to own a bank or a bank to own an insurance company. LIC should be given the first right (to purchase SUUTI''s stake) as it was the co-promoter of the bank. LIC already holds 10.39 per cent stake in UTI Bank and also about 27 per cent in public sector Corporation Bank.