Skip to main content

More global insurance players eyeing Indian market

More global insurance players eyeing Indian market' - G. Naga Sridhar

 

Hyderabad, March 30 Global insurance majors are increasingly looking at the Indian market to foray or expand further, according to Mr C.S. Rao, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

 

"Going by the pace of growth in life insurance, we expect that there will be more activity in the form of joint ventures between multinational insurance companies and their Indian counterparts," Mr Rao told Business Line here.

IRDA has issued primary licences to three new joint ventures in life (Aegon Religare, Canara Bank-HSBC-OBC and DLF Primerica) and one in non-life (Bharti AXA). "This completes the second phase of interest of global players in our insurance sector. The third phase will now begin and there will be more action," Mr Rao said.

 

At present, there are 41 players in insurance, including 21 in life sector, the LIC being the lone public sector firm. Private players now have 35 per cent market share.

The life segment is a major attraction for private players as the growth rate has been impressive. "Its growth is between 35 and 40 per cent. From Rs 10,000 crore first premium in 2001, it has gone up to Rs 86,381 crore in January 2008. This is enough to drive foreign players to India," the IRDA Chairman said. Worldwide, the growth of the insurance industry (total premium volume) is at 2.5 per cent.

 

The regulator is also expecting more applications for licences over the next one/two years due to banks' interest in insurance. (Andhra Bank-Legal and General-Bank of Baroda and Bank of India-Daichi-Union Bank of India ventures are likely to enter soon.)

 

The good returns from unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPS), non-saturation of urban markets, scope in districts and rural areas will drive further growth. "This will be an attractive proposition for new players to come in," he observed.

 

On capital infusion by existing companies and new firms, Mr Rao said IRDA is not considering permitting any options other than the equity route. "We believe only equity route is healthy in the current scenario," he said.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Story - ICICI Prudential's success story

ICICI Prudential's success story It is a real life story. A story of an insurer that has managed to hold on to its lead in the marketplace for seven years. ICICI Prudential, a joint venture between ICICI Bank   and Prudential UK, has been around ever since the private sector was allowed to sell life insurance policies.   Since then the tribe of life insurers has grown from 12 to 16, but ICICI still leads the private sector pack. With a portfolio of over 6.5 million policies, India's biggest private sector life insurer has not merely held on to its share but grown it; at the end of January 2008, the firm commanded 29 per cent of the share owned by private sector players. Quite some way below was Bajaj Allianz with 21 per cent, while State Bank of India   came in third with 10 per cent. How did ICICI achieve that? Says Ashvin Parekh, national leader, financial services, Ernst & Young, "Their strategy has been to grow the portfolio large enough so ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Auto Insurance Brokers - Can They Really Save You Money on Car Insurance?

Auto insurance brokers are the people that can actually write insurance policies. They are the ones that are licensed to operate an insurance agency and they are also the ones that hire and train the auto insurance agents that staff most agencies. They are typically licensed by the state and have more experience than the agents working under them, but can they save you money? The answer is yes they can save you money, but not as much money as you could save yourself if you were to shop for your car insurance online. Some auto insurance brokers specialize in finding low quotes for their customers and for many years this was the only way to find a great deal on car insurance. Now consumers have another option; they can shop online for their car insurance and cut out the middle man. Shopping for an auto insurance policy online is the surest way to find the best deal on car insurance. The reason for this is that when you shop online for vehicle insurance you are able to view quotes from m...
Read more

Insurance in India- Myths about insurance

Myths about insurance For many people, insurance is just another form of investment. They buy one or two life insurance policies , and then forget all about them. Ask them about other insurance covers—accident , health, or household valuables—and they will tell you that that's a waste of money. Why pay a premium for a health insurance cover, when you're in the pink of health, they will argue. Insurance advisors say mistaken notions about insurance are surprisingly widespread and persistent, and that this is the reason an alarming number of people are underinsured or even uninsured. "Most people have picked up certain assumptions over the years, and it is very difficult to convince them otherwise," says an insurance agent of the Life Insurance Corporation of India. "Even after the opening up of the insurance industry, some of these wrong ideas continue to play an important role in the decision-making process."   Two life policies are enough ...
1 comment
Read more