New Insurers To Milch Ties Of Foreign Ally

Indian insurance joint ventures are hoping to capitalise locally on their foreign partner's relationships with multinationals abroad.

A case in point is Iffco-Tokio Marine, which is targeting an insurance premium income of Rs 350 crore from Japanese and Korean ventures in India.

Another example: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, which wrote its first policy for ThyssenKrupp Stahl group's steel unit in India, won the cover on the strength of German giant Allianz AG's global relationship with Thyssen.

New insurers hope to see a lot of movement in accounts from state-owned insurance companies to them by January.

However, the public sector remains confident of its retaining its spoils.

"Corporates will opt for change in their insurer only if they get additional value, especially in terms of amalgamation of local insurance cover with their overseas covers. This is not possible at present," said a public sector insurance official.

Many European multinationals have international cover, and prefer an amalgamation of their local insurance policy with their international covers.

The exception will, however, be with Japanese and Korean companies which prefer to insure with Tokio Marine, said a company official.

Another block to amalgamation of risk covers is that the regulations in India do not allow premium income to be repatriated. This is to maximise domestic retention of funds.

The chase by new insurers is, nevertheless, expected to begin shortly as renewals in the Indian insurance market generally fall due in April.

Sector players say talks for 2002 deals have already started in many cases. Iffco-Tokio Marine meanwhile, has already written covers of value well in excess of Rs 1,000 crore, and has earned a premium income of Rs 40 odd crore.

This includes a share of the insurance business in Larsen & Toubro, Haldia Chemicals, Ispat Industries and even 30 per cent of the insurance premium of Maruti's New Delhi plant.