The insurance industry of India consists of 53 insurance companies of which 24 are in life insurance business and 29 are non-life insurers. Among the life insurers, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is the sole public sector company. Apart from that, among the non-life insurers there are six public sector insurers. In addition to these, there is sole national re-insurer, namely, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). Other stakeholders in Indian Insurance market include agents (individual and corporate), brokers, surveyors and third party administrators servicing health insurance claims.
Out of 29 non-life insurance companies, five private sector insurers are registered to underwrite policies exclusively in health, personal accident and travel insurance segments. They are Star Health and Allied Insurance Company Ltd, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company Ltd, Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd, Religare Health Insurance Company Ltd and Cigna TTK Health Insurance Company Ltd. There are two more specialised insurers belonging to public sector, namely, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India for Credit Insurance and Agriculture Insurance Company Ltd for crop insurance.
India's life insurance sector is the biggest in the world with about 360 million policies which are expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12-15 per cent over the next five years. The insurance industry plans to hike penetration levels to five per cent by 2020.
The country’s insurance market is expected to quadruple in size over the next 10 years from its current size of US$ 60 billion. During this period, the life insurance market is slated to cross US$ 160 billion.
The general insurance business in India is currently at Rs 78,000 crore (US$ 11.7 billion) premium per annum industry and is growing at a healthy rate of 17 per cent.
The Indian insurance market is a huge business opportunity waiting to be harnessed. India currently accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of the world’s total insurance premiums and about 2 per cent of the world’s life insurance premiums despite being the second most populous nation. The country is the fifteenth largest insurance market in the world in terms of premium volume, and has the potential to grow exponentially in the coming years.
The following are some of the major investments and developments in the Indian insurance sector.
Foreign Direct Investment in the insurance sector stood at US$ 341 million in March-September, 2015, showing a growth of 152 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Insurance firm AIA Group Ltd has decided to increase its stake in Tata AIA Life Insurance Co Ltd, a joint venture owned by Tata Sons Ltd and AIA Group from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.
Canada-based Sun Life Financial Inc plans to increase its stake from 26 per cent to 49 per cent in Birla Sun Life Insurance Co Ltd, a joint venture with Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd, through buying of shares worth Rs 1,664 crore (US$ 249 million).
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan's second largest life insurance company, has signed definitive agreements to invest Rs 2,265 crore (US$ 348 million) in order to increase its stake in Reliance Life Insurance from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.
The Central Government is planning to launch an all-in-one insurance scheme for farmers called the Unified Package Insurance Scheme (Bhartiya Krishi Bima Yojana). The proposed scheme will have various features like crop insurance, health cover, personal accident insurance, live stock insurance, insurance cover for agriculture implements like tractors and pump sets, student safety insurance and life insurance.
Government launched a special enrolment drive, Suraksha Bandhan Drive comprising of sale of gift cheques and launch of deposit schemes in bank branches, to facilitate enrolment under Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).
To increase the subscriber base and ensure wider reach, the Central Government has eased several norms for its flagship insurance scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY),in terms of more options for periodical contributions, voluntary and premature exits and simplified penalty for payment delays.
Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), the media conglomerate with multiple publications in several languages across India, is set to buy Religare Enterprises Ltd’s entire 44 per cent stake in life insurance joint venture Aegon Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd. The foreign partner Aegon is set to increase its stake in the joint venture from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, following government’s reform measure allowing the increase in stake holding by foreign companies in the insurance sector.
GIC Re and 11 other non-life insurers have jointly formed the India Nuclear Insurance Pool with a capacity of Rs 1,500 crore (US$ 226 million) and will provide the risk transfer mechanism to the operators and suppliers under the CLND Act.
State Bank of India has announced that BNP Paribas Cardif is keen to increase its stake in SBI Life Insurance from 26 per cent to 36 per cent. Once the foreign joint venture partner increases its stake to 36 per cent, SBI’s stake in SBI Life will get diluted to 64 per cent.
Bangladesh has granted permission to the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to run its business, making it the second foreign insurance company to operate in the country.
Reliance Life Insurance Company (RLIC) today said it will add 20,000 agents across India in this financial year as part of its expansion plans. It will increase their agency force by 20 per cent which now stands at 100,000.
Here is a list of Life Insurance companies registered by IRDA. Please click on their names to visit their websites
Here is a list of Non-Life Insurance companies registered by IRDA. Please click on their names to visit their websites.
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