New Delhi, May 8 (IANS): Life Insurance Corporation of India's initial public offering was subscribed 1.79 times on the 5th day of bidding on Sunday.

The issue opened for subscription on Wednesday (May 4) and continues to see strong interest from all investor categories.

The portion reserved for eligible policy holders was subscribed 5.04 times, reservation for eligible employees was subscribed 3.79 times, retail category was subscribed 1.59 times, the non-institutional category witnessed subscription of 1.24 times, and qualified institutional buyers category saw subscription of 0.67 times.

The offer received bids for 29,07,81,915 shares against the offered 16,20,78,067 equity shares (excluding shares offered to anchor investors), as per the latest data available on the bourses.

The long-awaited Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the LIC will remain open for subscription till May 9.

Though the government has brought down the issue size from 5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, it is a landmark public issue in the history of the Indian capital market and is poised to be India's biggest IPO till date.

The IPO values LIC at Rs 6 lakh crore.

The issue offer of the LIC is in the price band of Rs 902 to Rs 949.

Policyholders will be offered a Rs 60 discount, while for retail investors, the discount will be Rs 45.