RIL, ITC, Infosys, L&T: LIC loses Rs 47,000 cr notionally on top 5 portfolio stocks

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which held Rs 17.50 lakh crore worth listed stocks as on December 31, 2025, saw over Rs 47,000 crore notional dent on its top five holdings year-to-date. LIC investments in these five stocks namely Reliance Industries Ltd, State Bank of India (SBI), ITC Ltd, Infosys Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) saw a combined 10.32 per cent fall in value in 2026 and accounted for Rs 4.06 lakh crore worth of LIC portfolio compared with Rs 4.53 lakh crore as of December 31, 2025. Barring SBI, all other stocks, witnessed sharp declines. 

LIC, which invests in stocks for long-term, held 6.82 per cent stake in RIL, which was worth Rs 1,28,820 crore in Monday' trade compared with Rs 1,44,842 crore on December 31, 2025, down 11 per cent or Rs 16,021 crore. JM Financial last week said the correction in RIL’s share price is overdone as it would not be negatively impacted by the recent spike in crude and LNG prices. Instead, RIL could see near-term benefits due to jump in diesel crack on account of supply disruption risk; and likely rise in petchem margin (as petchem product prices are likely to rise along with crude price while its feedstock cost is unlikely to rise much as it has limited dependency on crude-linked naphtha, JM Financial said.

SBI, the second largest LIC holding, plunged 5 per cent in Monday's trade and commanded an m-cap of Rs 9,93,999 crore. Despite this, the stock is up 10 per cent year-to-date, adding over Rs 8,000 crore to LIC's portfolio value. 

ITC has fallen 24 per cent year-to-date and contributed Rs 19,086 crore notional loss to LIC's portfolio. LIC held 15.69 per cent stake in the FMCG maker. Hike in cigarette excise duty hurt ITC. Nomura said leaf tobacco prices are down 14 per cent against last year’s prices. However, ITC may start consuming the new crop only from 1QFY27F, indicating margins will remain under pressure through FY26F, it said.

Infosys Ltd, where LIC held 11.28 per cent stake in December quarter is down 19 per cent in 2026 so far, notionally hurting LIC portfolio by Rs 14,609 crore. LIC held Rs 59,321 crore worth Infosys shares in Monday's trade (based on December quarter shareholding) from Rs 73,931 crore at the end of December quarter. 
Larsen & Toubro Ltd, where LIC held 12.69 per cent stake, has declined 7 per cent in 2026. LIC's holding in this stock has fallen Rs 5,132 crore to Rs 66,142 crore from Rs 71,275 crore, thanks to West Asia tensions.

"Given the ongoing hostilities, we see 10 per cent impact on the FY26 order inflow, basis the order prospect pipeline. For L&T, 12,000-15,000 workers are presently working in the ME region. While it is difficult to assess the current situation, we estimate that L&T’s core earnings will be negatively impacted by 11-12 per cent for FY27E/28E, assuming a three-month execution delay and low order inflow mainly in the hydrocarbon segment," Emkay Global said. 

LIC’s share by value in companies listed on NSE went up 3.72 per cent as on December 31, 2025 from 3.62 per cent as on September 30, 2025, data compiled by PRIME Database suggested.