L&T to infuse Rs 500 cr in insurance biz

L&T General Insurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of engineering construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), will see a capital infusion around Rs 500 crore from its parent over next three to four years.

"We will infuse around Rs 500 crore in next three to four years in our insurance business to support future growth prospects of the company," YM Deosthalee, Chairman of the Board of L&T Insurance, told reporters here today on the sidelines of launching the company's first health insurance product.

The company, which started its operation last year, will fund this amount from the internal accruals of the holding company, he added.

L&T General Insurance has started its operations with an initial investment of Rs 175 crore and has set a target of collecting a premium of Rs 1,000 crore in its first five years of operations. It also aims to be break even in five to seven years.

Referring to business growth, the company officials said there is vast scope in the general insurance space as its penetration is very low. However, the company has no plans to enter into partnership in this space in the near future.

"We are not going to enter into any kind of partnership in the near future," Deosthalee said.

The general insurer, which is betting big on health insurance, has also the rural markets on its radar for growth.

"We have four micro-insurance products in our portfolio as of now, which have seen sound response from the consumers," Joydeep Roy, Chief Executive Officer of L&T Insurance said adding, that the company has no plans to enter into life insurance space as of now.

He also said the insurer will come up with three to four new products every quarter as part its business expansion plan.