Investments and holdings
Most of the money the corporation holds is invested, and it is the largest single investor in the Indian market. Its portfolio spans banks, cement, chemicals and fertilisers, electricity and transmission, electricals and electronics, engineering, construction and infrastructure, fast moving consumer goods, finance and investments, healthcare, hotels, information technology, metals and mining, motor vehicles and ancillaries, oil and natural resources, retail, textiles, and transportation and logistics.[1]
That breadth is a regulatory design as much as an investment choice. Because the corporation holds a large share of many listed companies, any big decision it takes about a single stock is a market event, and it has often been used by the government as a buyer when a state asset is sold.[1][6]
The portfolio's value moves with the market, and the movement is large enough to be newsworthy on its own. Its listed holdings were worth about 177 billion dollars in December 2024 and about 166.5 billion dollars by 18 February 2025, a fall of about 5.7 per cent that Business Standard reported as an 84,000 crore rupee dent in the portfolio caused by a wider stock market crash.[1][7]
For a policyholder the relevant number is not the market value of the portfolio but the life fund set aside against policies, reported at about 28.3 lakh crore rupees. That fund, not the equity book, is what backs the guaranteed payouts, which is why a fall in share prices is a shareholder problem before it is a policyholder problem.[1]
