Mumbai, April 3: The big daddy of Indian insurance industry is on the prowl. Life Insurance Corporation of India is mulling raising its stake in Mangalore-based Corporation Bank and is open to acquiring organisations in the domestic financial sector, including insurance companies. “We will like to have a large stake in one of the banking entities and would look at raising our holding in the bank,” LIC chairman B. S. Mathur told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Mumbai Education Trust here today.

The state-owned insurer holds 26.32 per cent stake in the bank as on December 31, 2003. It also has a substantial holding in Delhi-based Oriental Bank of Commerce.

The financial sector would witness many changes like interest rate movements, making consolidation necessary to grow scale of operations and withstand competition, Mathur said. The insurance sector would not be immune to it and LIC was open to acquire organisations in this sector, he added. He, however, said there were no immediate plans for it. Asked about plans for its mutual fund subsidiary, he said, “we have no intention to exit from it as large number of LIC customers had invested in mutual fund scheme.”