Indian Insurance Industry Overview & Market Development Analysis

India ranked 10th in life insurance 14th in non-life insurance in the world.

Advantage India

Robust
Demand

* The gross first year premium of Life insurers increased by 6.94% in 2021-22 until 31st January 2022, this was Rs. 2,27,188 crore (US$ 29.54 billion).

Attractive
Opportunities

* Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) allowed insurers to invest debt securities of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs); this is expected to provide more investment options for the country's emerging start-up ecosystem.

* Insurance reach is still low in India. Overall insurance penetration (premiums as % of GDP) was 4.2% in FY21, providing a huge underserved market.

Policy
support

* In September 2021, the Union Cabinet approved an investment of Rs. 6,000 crore (US$ 804.71 million) into entities, offering export insurance cover to facilitate additional exports worth Rs. 5.6 lakh crore (US$ 75.11 billion) over the next five years.

Increasing
Investments

* In February 2021, the Finance Ministry announced to infuse Rs. 3,000 crore (US$ 413.13 million) into state-owned general insurance companies to improve the overall financial health of companies.

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Last updated: Apr, 2022

ICICI Lombard General Insurance

Currently, a leading private general insurer in India, ICICI Lombard started as a joint venture (JV) between ICICI Bank and Fairfax Financial Holdings in 2001. Over the years, it has grown rapidly along with India’s insurance industry.

Gross Direct Premium Income (GDPI) of the company stood at Rs. 133.13 billion (US$ 1.89 billion) in FY20.

Company Website: https://www.icicilombard.com/

SBI Life Insurance

SBI Life Insurance was established in 2000 as a JV between SBI and BNP Paribas Cardiff and has become one of the leading life insurers in the country. The company has a range of life insurance and pension products which include individual and group products to cater to the insurance needs of diverse customer segments.

Gross Written Premium of SBI Life has increased at a 23% y-o-y to reach Rs. 406.3 billion (US$ 5.76 billion) in FY20.

Company Website: https://www.sbilife.co.in/

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company

HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company was established in 2000 as a JV between Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC Ltd) and Standard Life Aberdeen. It was the first private company to get a license from IRDAI in 2001. As of March 2019, the company was providing 38 individual and 11 group insurance products. After strong period of growth, the company completed its initial public offer (IPO) in 2017. HDFC Life continues to benefit from its presence across the country with 414 branches and additional distribution touchpoints through several partnerships. The partnerships comprise 265 bancassurance partners including NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies), MFIs (Micro Finance Institutions), SFBs (Small Finance Banks), etc. and 39 partnerships within non-traditional ecosystems.

Currently the company has the largest share in new business among private life insurers.

Company Website: https://www.hdfclife.com/