Shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) experienced a significant rally of over 8% on Wednesday, following the announcement of a board meeting set for April 13 to consider a potential bonus share issuance. This would mark LIC's first bonus issue since its stock market debut in May 2022. Bonus shares are free shares distributed from a company's reserves, often signaling strong financial health and growth prospects. Although the issuance would increase the total number of outstanding shares, it would not affect the company's market capitalization, which currently stands at over ₹5 lakh crore (approximately $600 billion USD). The company's shares were trading at around ₹803 each on Wednesday morning. Notably, LIC has seen a 46% increase in share price over the past three years, despite a 6% decline in 2026 so far. The government holds a 96.5% stake in LIC, with only 3.5% publicly owned. In February, LIC reported a 17% year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit for the December quarter, amounting to ₹12,930 crore compared to ₹11,008 crore the previous year.