Indian Insurance Industry Overview & Market Development Analysis
Introduction
The insurance industry of India consists of 57 insurance companies of which 24 are in life insurance business and 33 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.
Market Size
Government's policy of insuring the uninsured has gradually pushed insurance penetration in the country and proliferation of insurance schemes.
Gross premiums written in India reached Rs 5.53 trillion (US$ 94.48 billion) in FY18, with Rs 4.58 trillion (US$ 71.1 billion) from life insurance and Rs 1.51 trillion (US$ 23.38 billion) from non-life insurance. Overall insurance penetration (premiums as % of GDP) in India reached 3.69 per cent in 2017 from 2.71 per cent in 2001.
In FY19 (up to October 2018), premium from new life insurance business increased 3.66 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.09 trillion (US$ 15.46 billion). In FY19 (up to October 2018), gross direct premiums of non-life insurers reached Rs 962.05 billion (US$ 13.71 billion), showing a year-on-year growth rate of 12.40 per cent.
Investments and Recent Developments
The following are some of the major investments and developments in the Indian insurance sector.
Government Initiatives
The Government of India has taken a number of initiatives to boost the insurance industry. Some of them are as follows:
Road Ahead
The future looks promising for the life insurance industry with several changes in regulatory framework which will lead to further change in the way the industry conducts its business and engages with its customers.
The overall insurance industry is expected to reach US$ 280 billion by 2020. Life insurance industry in the country is expected grow by 12-15 per cent annually for the next three to five years.
Demographic factors such as growing middle class, young insurable population and growing awareness of the need for protection and retirement planning will support the growth of Indian life insurance.
Source: IBEF
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