General Insurance sector logs 15 pc growth in August

NEW DELHI: General insurance industry grew by 15 per cent in the August led by Anil Ambani group firm Reliance General Insurance, which recorded the highest growth of 161 per cent in gross premium as compared to a year ago.

The 12 non-life insurers collected Rs 2,116 crore in premium in August, against Rs 1,839 crore during the same period in the previous year, according to data collected by regulator the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).

During the month, market leader New India Assurance's premium collection witnessed a dip of one per cent to Rs 358 crore as compared to Rs 363 crore a year ago.
  
In the private sector, the largest player, ICICI Lombard collected 22 per cent higher premium at Rs 302 crore.

Private players increased their business to Rs 881 crore in August from Rs 662 crore in the same month last year, the data shows.

With a premium collection of Rs 155 crore in August, against Rs 59 crore a year ago, Reliance General Insurance became the the fastest growing insurer.

In percentage terms, while the public sector could increase their premiums by just 5 per cent, eight private sector players clocked premium growth of 33 per cent.
   
Post-detariffing, the private sector seems to be gaining in market share faster than their public sector counterpart in the industry.

Market share of private players during the period went up to 42 per cent as against 58 per cent accounted for by those in the public sector.