Life insurance industry logs 33% growth in first quarter

The 24-member Indian life insurance industry closed the first quarter of the current fiscal with a new business premium of Rs 31,392.55 crore, logging a growth of 33.2%, the Life Insurance Council of India said.

According to the provisional data uploaded on the Council's website, the life insurance industry logged a new business of Rs 31,392.55 crore during the first quarter, up from Rs 23,568.14 crore earned during the first quarter of 2015-16.

The Council connects various stakeholders in the life insurance industry.

The public-sector Life Insurance Corporation of India has logged 37.53% growth in the new business during the first quarter of the current fiscal with a total premium income of Rs 22,592.22 crore, up from Rs 16,428.23 crore earned during comparable period the previous fiscal.

On the other hand, the private sector comprising 23 players clocked new business premium totalling Rs 8,798.34 crore during the first quarter of 2016-17, a growth of 23.23% over the previous fiscal's comparable quarter new premium of Rs 7,139.91 crore.

Interestingly, Max Life Insurance's new business seems to have not been affected by its announcement to merge with HDFC Standard Life.

The company closed the first quarter with a new business premium of Rs 569.78 crore, up from Rs 459.14 crore earned during the comparable quarter the previous year.

Around mid-June 2016, the company announced its decision to merge with HDFC Standard Life.

Amongst the top private sector leaders HDFC Standard Life logged 28.83% growth with Rs 1,409.29 crore new business premium while the rival ICICI Prudential Life clocked just 3.12% growth for the period under review at Rs 1,258.89 crore.