INDIA – Non-life insurers premium up by 18 percent

Non-life insurance companies reported 18 percent growth in premium collections in the April-August period, reflecting an upturn in business environment.

 

The premium income of the general insurance industry, comprising 21 private and four public sector insurers, stood at Rs. 27,942 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal, 18 per cent higher than Rs. 23,748 crore in the corresponding period last year.

 

According to the data available at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), the four public sector players, which dominate about 60 percent of the total industry, saw their premium income rising by 17 percent to Rs. 16,272 crore.

 

Of the private sector players, HDFC Ergo registered a premium growth of 26 percent at Rs. 972.52 crore. Besides, premium income of ICICI-Lombard grew by 10.56 percent to Rs. 2,350 crore in the first five months of the current fiscal.

 

The premium income of Reliance General Insurance rose by 12.8 percent to Rs. 882.64 crore, while that of Tata AIG rose 26 percent to Rs. 920.43 crore in the April-August period.

 

Earlier this month, IRDA came out with an exposure draft for non-life insurance companies planning to come out with initial public offering (IPO) in which it mandated insurers to have a 10-year track record for hitting the capital market.

 

The draft norms – IRDA (Issuance of Capital by General Insurance Companies) Regulations, 2012 – states that the regulator would take into account the insurer’s financial position, its capital structure and regulatory record before permitting them to come out with the share sale.