LIC launches Jeevan Ankur

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on Monday launched Jeevan Ankur, its first life insurance product in the current fiscal with children being designated as direct beneficiaries through the risk coverage of parent's life.

“We are hoping a good response from parents for the new product, which is unique compared to existing child plans being offered by LIC. The premium of this new policy has also been kept low,” AK Sahoo, zonal manager of LIC in-charge of AP and Karnataka, said at the launch function. Children's plans contribute close to 10 per cent to the total premium collected through the 50-odd life insurance products across the country, according to him.

Sating that the life insurance companies, including LIC, were going through a downturn in terms of business growth during the current year, Sahoo said the company was trying hard to catch up with last year's business levels by making the best of these three months.

The LIC in AP and Karnataka, which collected Rs 5,600 crore business premium last year, achieved only 50 per cent of the target till December 2011. Apart from the downtrend in the economy, the negative performance of its sole unit-linked product contributed to the slowdown in the growth of business, he said.

It has filed new unit-linked products for approval with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.