The life insurance industry in India is expected to grow by 15% this fiscal and may cross the Rs2.5-lakh crore mark in total premium income by March-end, industry body Life Insurance Council said today. This growth in premium income includes new business as well as renewals, driven by increasing awareness on the value of getting insured.
"Despite a slowdown in the economy, the life insurance industry has continued to grow as policy-holders are realising the value of insurance," Life Insurance Council secretary general, SB Mathur, said in a press release.
"We continue to be optimistic about the future of the insurance business in India and expect the industry to grow by about 15%. We stand committed to achieve a target of Rs2,55,000 crore in total premium for FY10," he said.
Total premium income for the industry stood at Rs2,21,688 crore for fiscal 2009, data from the council said. The Life Insurance Council, the industry body for all the life insurance companies in India, releases quarterly data for 22 life insurance firms including public sector giant Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
Indian life insurers have recorded a robust growth of over 18% for the first six months of FY10 with total premium collections of Rs1,01,976 crore against Rs86,571 crore collected in the same period last year.
"The capital deployed at Rs26,526 crore by life insurance companies has seen almost 25% jump from Rs21,248 crore last year," the Council said. Life Insurance companies run more than 11,800 branches across the country, of which a whopping 8,670 branches were set-up by private sector life insurers, it added.
Total renewal premiums for regular Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) grew 40 per cent in the first six months of this fiscal on a year-on-year basis to Rs25,950 crore. ULIPS had registered a renewal premium of Rs18,506 crore in the same period in FY09.
Non-linked renewal premium stood at Rs 37,041 crore from April-September 2009, higher than Rs33,536 crore collected in the corresponding period the previous year. New business premium improved by 13% from April-September as against numbers clocked in FY09.
However, commission expenses in the industry dipped by about 76 basis points compared with amounts paid till March this year.
"Total benefit paid to policyholders was Rs28,373 crore, an increase of 23% as compared to Rs23,070 crore last year. Of this, death benefit amounted to Rs3,868
crore," Life Insurance Council said.
Private life companies paid total benefits amounting to Rs5,556 crore in the first six months this year, a jump of over 99% from Rs2,798 crore that was paid last year, it added.
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