LIC snaps up 80% of new biz in Aug

The insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which is the world's largest life insurer in terms of policyholders with over 28 crore customers, has made stellar performance in August by capturing four-fifths of the new business.

According to the figures published by the sectoral regulator Irda for August, the corporation had a cake walk in the month with a market share of 79.21 per cent in the new premium income. As against this, all the 22 private insurers put together could muster only 20.79 per cent, the corporation said in a release here today.

The corporation, which is celebrating its 54th anniversary this month, also saw its market share in the new premium income rising from 64.86 per cent as on March 31, 2010 to a 74.09 per cent as on August 31, 2010, showing a growth rate of 87.80 per cent and covering more than 1.22 crore new lives.

Its two Ulip policies-- Market Plus I and Money Plus I --have met with a huge public response. In the pension and group schemes new premia, the Corporation's market share has gone up to 85.81 per cent during the month.

With the entry of the new Ulip regime, LIC is the only life insurer to have introduced the Pension Plus and another Endowment Plus in September, which the company claimed has been met with huge response.