The initial public offering of the Life Insurance Corporation was fully subscribed on the second day of bidding, according to data from the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The initial public offering, or IPO, opened on Wednesday and will end on May 9.

On Thursday, investors made bids for 16,68,60,765 shares against the 16,20,78,067 that were offered for subscription.

The subscription quota reserved for LIC policyholders was oversubscribed by 3.11 times, while the quota reserved for employees of the state-owned company was oversubscribed by 2.21 times.

The quotas for retail investors, qualified institutional buyers and non-institutional investors were subscribed by 90%, 40% and 47%, respectively. The company has offered a discount of Rs 60 per share for its policyholders and Rs 45 per share for retail investors and LIC employees.

On Wednesday, investors had made bids for 10,44,20,535 equity shares against the 16,20,78,067 shares offered for subscription.

An initial public offering is a process in which private companies offer shares to the public by issuing new stocks. At the end of the IPO process, the company gets listed on the stock exchange and is allowed to raise capital from public investors.

The price band for the LIC IPO has been fixed between Rs 902 to Rs 949 per equity share. Investors can invest in the IPO in a bid lot size of 15 equity shares, and multiples thereafter.

The Centre hopes to raise Rs 21,000 crore through the public offer. It said that the LIC IPO could be India’s largest ever. The state-owned company is likely to be listed on stock exchanges on May 17.