State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has sought permission from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to allow the life insurer to continue holding Rs 5,000 crore of Tata Sons debt, The Economic Times reported.

The insurer bought the non-convertible debentures issued by Tata Sons in the last few years, before the conglomerate became private in September 2017, of which LIC receives an annual interest on the securities. The insurance regulator does not allow insurers to subscribe to the financial instruments of private companies.

“We should be permitted to hold on to the securities of Tata Sons since we purchased these non-convertible debentures (NCD) over a longer period,” the insurer wrote to the regulator.

“We have asked all insurers to come up with their exposure in Tata Sons after it became a private company," an Irdai official told the paper.

Sources from the conglomerate told the paper the group was aware of the buyback that it would have to undertake if LIC was not given an approval to hold the debt.

"In 2017, we have discussed with Tata shareholders the impact of going private and the financial repercussions,” unnamed sources told the daily, "The LIC disinvestment was part of that."