SBI Life mulls listing; to invest Rs 600 cr next year

SBI Life Insurance, which is gearing up for listing later next year, today said it will make capital infusion of about Rs 600 crore in 2009-10 for business expansion.

"We estimate Rs 500-600 crore capital infusion next year with the kind of growth we are registering," SBI Life Insurance Managing Director and CEO and U S Roy told reporters here.

Currently, the paid up capital of the company, which has been in the profit for the past three years, stands at Rs 1,000 crore.

Given the current trend of business growth, capital is not required till March 2009, he said, adding that the solvency ratio of the insurer is 2.2 per cent against the regulatory requirement of 1.5 per cent.

Talking about listing of the company, Roy said: "We are preparing for the listing of the company. As per our Chairman O P Bhatt, the company is expected to go public during the later half of the 2009."

However, going public would depend on market condition and other considerations, including the regulatory clearance, he said.

Speaking about the business growth, Roy said, the company expects first year premium income to grow by 80 per cent during the current financial year.

The new business premium this year would go up to Rs 8,500 crore as compared to Rs 4,800 crore earned last year, he said.