Shriram eyes Rs 500 cr from group insurance

The Hyderabad-based company's group insurance segment currently contributes Rs 150 crore

Private sector insurance firm Shriram Life is eyeing Rs 500-crore business from group insurance in the next three years, a top company executive said.

“Group insurance segment, including group term, Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI) and group gratuity, has a lot of potential. “We have not done much in this segment and now we have decided to expand in group insurance mainly targetting small and medium enterprises,” Shriram Life Insurance Company Chief Executive Officer Manoj Kumar Jain said here.

“We are targetting Rs 500-crore business from this segment in the next three years,” he added. The Hyderabad-based company’s group insurance segment presently contributes Rs 150 crore. The private insurer is also planning to add 40 new branches, especially in tier III and IV cities, and hire 300 people this fiscal as part of its expansion strategy.

“Our core business comes from tier III and IV cities, so we like to expand in these cities,” he said. The company, he said, is also planning to add 7,000-8,000 new agents. The company, which gets 60 per cent of its business from south India, is planning to focus to expand in North and West.

“We are planning to focus in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.

We want to expand our business in the North and West to 60 per cent from the current 40 per cent,” he added. When asked about the policy guidelines introduced by the regulator, he said it would not have any negative impact on the company’s profitability this fiscal.

However, there might be some impact in FY15, he added. The private insurer has already submitted 2-3 products under the new guidelines to the regulator, he said.

Shriram Life Insurance Company posted Rs 82 crore net profit for the year ending March 31, 2013, and is aiming 30 per cent growth this fiscal on the back of expansion.