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Employees’ State Insurance Corporation regional office. File
| Photo Credit: www.esic.gov.in
The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is looking to invest surplus funds in the stock market through exchange traded funds (ETFs) and is awaiting markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s nod for exemption from the ₹25-crore per transaction limit.
As of March 31, 2024, the social security body’s investments in government and other securities, bonds and debentures, fixed deposits (FDs) and Special Deposit Account (SDA) totalled ₹1,48,547.16 crore, sources in the Ministry of Labour and Employment said. Of this, ₹79,611 crore has been invested in government securities, ₹7,147 crore in other approved securities, ₹39,407 crore in debentures and bonds, more than ₹44 crore in FDs with scheduled commercial banks, and ₹22,336 crore in SDA with the finance ministry, the sources said.
The ESIC wrote to the SEBI last year seeking exemption from the ₹25-crore per transaction threshold given that it does not have the capacity to shell out that big volume of investment at one go, explained ministry sources.
(The author, Dalip Singh, of this article is with The Hindu businessline)
Published – March 06, 2025 11:15 pm IST
