LIC’s big bets: Half of its Rs 17-lakh crore equity portfolio is parked in these 14 blue-chip giants
An analysis by BT Research shows that 14 large-cap stocks together account for Rs 8.5 lakh crore of LIC’s equity portfolio
- Dec 3, 2025,
- Updated Dec 3, 2025 11:38 AM IST
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest institutional investor, remains gung-ho on the bluest of blue chips. An analysis by BT Research shows that 14 large cap stocks together account for Rs 8.5 lakh crore of LIC’s equity portfolio, which is half of its total stock market investment of Rs 17 lakh crore in more than 310 stocks as of December 1, 2025. The calculations are based on the latest shareholding pattern for the quarter ended September 2025.
Some companies delivered better-than-expected results in Q2FY26, also prompted market watchers to stay bullish on them. With a value of Rs 1.44 lakh crore, Reliance Industries (RIL) is the biggest bet of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The insurance behemoth held 921.75 million shares, or 6.94% stake, in the energy-to-telecom behemoth at the end of Q2FY26. Shares of the company have soared nearly 29% to Rs 1,566 in the ongoing calendar year till date. On the other hand, the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index has gained around 11% during the same period.
Brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services is bullish on RIL with a target price of Rs 1,765. “RIL continues to progress on the 40GWh battery GIGA factory, which is set to commence operations in early CY26. We raise the New Energy business valuation for RIL to Rs 174 per share (earlier Rs 116 per share) as we incorporate value for the battery manufacturing segment,” the brokerage said. RIL reported nearly 10% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 18,165 crore in Q2FY26.
State Bank of India is next on the list. The present value of LIC in the country’s biggest lender by assets stood at Rs 85,432 crore as of December 1, 2025. The insurance major held 9.59% stake, or 877.88 million shares in the bank. Brokerage Elara Capital in November gave ‘Accumulate’ rating to SBI and set a target price at Rs 1,050.
LIC also looks positive on FMCG major ITC (Rs 80,306 crore) and engineering to construction major Larsen & Toubro (Rs 72,830 crore). The insurance firm held 15.86% and 13.14% stake in ITC and L&T, respectively, as of September 30, 2025. Net profit of L&T and ITC increased by nearly 16% and 3% year-on-year, respectively, in Q2FY26.
Sharing its view on L&T, Geojit Financial Services said, “L&T’s performance in Q2FY26 was robust, with strong growth in order inflow and revenue increase in all segments, except for infrastructure projects. The company anticipates healthy revenue growth and a significant increase in order inflow, indicating a promising performance in the future. Furthermore, its healthy order book is expected to drive strong performance in the upcoming quarters.” The brokerage has ‘Buy’ call on L&T with a target price of Rs 4,406.
In the IT space, LIC held Rs 64,528 crore of shares of Infosys and Rs 56,983 crore of shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as of December 1, 2025. According to Nuvama, the growth for large-caps to be tepid in the near term due to macro headwinds but recover over the medium term with a revival in technology spending and the mammoth opportunity led by Gen AI. “Tier-2 companies are likely to sustain their strong growth momentum. We maintain ‘Buy’ on Coforge, Persistent, Mphasis, LTIMindtree, Hexaware, TCS and Infosys,” the brokerage said in a report.
On the other hand, LIC held Rs 65,282 crore worth of HDFC Bank shares, Rs 53,020 crore in IDBI Bank, Rs 49,005 crore in ICICI Bank, and Rs 31,241 crore in Axis Bank from the banking sector. Trupti Agrawal, Senior Fund Manager-Equity, WhiteOak Capital Management, said, “From a bottom-up perspective, there are certain sectors where we consistently find more opportunities. At present, we see more promising prospects within private sector financials, consumer discretionary, communication services, healthcare and industrials.”
Bharti Airtel (Rs 49,005), ONGC (Rs 30,758), and Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 29,866 crore) stood among other top holdings of LIC in value terms as of December 1, 2025. Net profit of Bharti Airtel surged 89% YoY to Rs 6,791.70 crore in Q2FY26. Among the large caps, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, and State Bank of India are among the top picks of Axis Securities. In the base case scenario, Axis Securities expects the Nifty to reach the 28,100-mark by December 2026, valuing it at 20x on December 2027 earnings. In the bull case, the brokerage value Nifty at 21x, translating into a Dec’26 target of 29,500, and it sees Nifty at 24,000 in the bear case scenario. The 50-share index Nifty closed at 26,032.20 on December 2, 2025.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest institutional investor, remains gung-ho on the bluest of blue chips. An analysis by BT Research shows that 14 large cap stocks together account for Rs 8.5 lakh crore of LIC’s equity portfolio, which is half of its total stock market investment of Rs 17 lakh crore in more than 310 stocks as of December 1, 2025. The calculations are based on the latest shareholding pattern for the quarter ended September 2025.
Some companies delivered better-than-expected results in Q2FY26, also prompted market watchers to stay bullish on them. With a value of Rs 1.44 lakh crore, Reliance Industries (RIL) is the biggest bet of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The insurance behemoth held 921.75 million shares, or 6.94% stake, in the energy-to-telecom behemoth at the end of Q2FY26. Shares of the company have soared nearly 29% to Rs 1,566 in the ongoing calendar year till date. On the other hand, the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 index has gained around 11% during the same period.
Brokerage Motilal Oswal Financial Services is bullish on RIL with a target price of Rs 1,765. “RIL continues to progress on the 40GWh battery GIGA factory, which is set to commence operations in early CY26. We raise the New Energy business valuation for RIL to Rs 174 per share (earlier Rs 116 per share) as we incorporate value for the battery manufacturing segment,” the brokerage said. RIL reported nearly 10% growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 18,165 crore in Q2FY26.
State Bank of India is next on the list. The present value of LIC in the country’s biggest lender by assets stood at Rs 85,432 crore as of December 1, 2025. The insurance major held 9.59% stake, or 877.88 million shares in the bank. Brokerage Elara Capital in November gave ‘Accumulate’ rating to SBI and set a target price at Rs 1,050.
LIC also looks positive on FMCG major ITC (Rs 80,306 crore) and engineering to construction major Larsen & Toubro (Rs 72,830 crore). The insurance firm held 15.86% and 13.14% stake in ITC and L&T, respectively, as of September 30, 2025. Net profit of L&T and ITC increased by nearly 16% and 3% year-on-year, respectively, in Q2FY26.
Sharing its view on L&T, Geojit Financial Services said, “L&T’s performance in Q2FY26 was robust, with strong growth in order inflow and revenue increase in all segments, except for infrastructure projects. The company anticipates healthy revenue growth and a significant increase in order inflow, indicating a promising performance in the future. Furthermore, its healthy order book is expected to drive strong performance in the upcoming quarters.” The brokerage has ‘Buy’ call on L&T with a target price of Rs 4,406.
In the IT space, LIC held Rs 64,528 crore of shares of Infosys and Rs 56,983 crore of shares of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as of December 1, 2025. According to Nuvama, the growth for large-caps to be tepid in the near term due to macro headwinds but recover over the medium term with a revival in technology spending and the mammoth opportunity led by Gen AI. “Tier-2 companies are likely to sustain their strong growth momentum. We maintain ‘Buy’ on Coforge, Persistent, Mphasis, LTIMindtree, Hexaware, TCS and Infosys,” the brokerage said in a report.
On the other hand, LIC held Rs 65,282 crore worth of HDFC Bank shares, Rs 53,020 crore in IDBI Bank, Rs 49,005 crore in ICICI Bank, and Rs 31,241 crore in Axis Bank from the banking sector. Trupti Agrawal, Senior Fund Manager-Equity, WhiteOak Capital Management, said, “From a bottom-up perspective, there are certain sectors where we consistently find more opportunities. At present, we see more promising prospects within private sector financials, consumer discretionary, communication services, healthcare and industrials.”
Bharti Airtel (Rs 49,005), ONGC (Rs 30,758), and Mahindra & Mahindra (Rs 29,866 crore) stood among other top holdings of LIC in value terms as of December 1, 2025. Net profit of Bharti Airtel surged 89% YoY to Rs 6,791.70 crore in Q2FY26. Among the large caps, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, and State Bank of India are among the top picks of Axis Securities. In the base case scenario, Axis Securities expects the Nifty to reach the 28,100-mark by December 2026, valuing it at 20x on December 2027 earnings. In the bull case, the brokerage value Nifty at 21x, translating into a Dec’26 target of 29,500, and it sees Nifty at 24,000 in the bear case scenario. The 50-share index Nifty closed at 26,032.20 on December 2, 2025.