The growth was largely on account of LIC which contributed over Rs. 16,000 crore to the overall industry’s new business premium collection.
Financial year 2016-17 has started off on a good note for the life insurance industry. In the first six month of the current financial year i.e. HFY 2016-17, the life insurance industry has witnessed a growth of 35% in its new business premium collection.
IRDAI data shows that the life insurance industry has received new business premium collection of Rs. 76,200 crore till September 2016, compared to Rs. 56,300 crore in the corresponding period last year, an addition of Rs. 19,900 crore in new business premium.
This growth was largely on account of LIC which has witnessed 41% growth in its new business premium collection. LIC has alone contributed Rs. 16,000 crore to the industry’s new business premium collection kitty. The company has witnessed growth in all four segments – single premium, regular policies and group insurance schemes.
Meanwhile, private players have seen growth of 23% in new business premium collection. The new business premium collection of the private life insurance companies has increased from Rs. 17,125 crore to Rs. 21,073 crore, a growth of nearly Rs. 4,000 crore.
Among private insurers, SBI Life has mopped up the highest new business premium of Rs. 4,640 crore last fiscal, overtaking ICICI Prudential (Rs. 3,206 crore) and HDFC Standard (Rs. 3,374 crore).
Experts attributed this growth to increasing distribution footprint of the private players. Manoj Kumar Jain, Managing Direction, Shriram Life Insurance said that private players have strengthened their distribution channel across the country. The new business premium collection of Shriram Life Insurance has increased by 32% or Rs.84 crore as on September 2016.
In terms of number of policies, the industry has witnessed a moderate growth of 1.5% to Rs. 1.05 crore in HFY 2016-17 from Rs. 1.03 crore in HFY 2015-16.