Concerted action can put India in top 10 insurance markets

Concerted action by stakeholders can help the country's life and general insurance segments achieve a Gross Written Premium (GWP) size of USD 250 billion over the next decade, placing India amongst the top ten global insurance markets.
According to a CII-McKinsey & Company report, insurance industry in India is at an inflexion point and with the government's reformative drive and resolve, the country can achieve the vision of building a customer-centric and value-creating sector over the next decade.
"However, to unlock this true potential, there needs to be a concerted action from all stakeholders," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

An inclusive and progressive growth over the next decade will enable life insurance industry to grow at 12 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach USD 160-175 billion and general insurance to grow at 22 per cent CAGR to reach a GWP of USD 80 billion, the report said.
Pointing out that there is a substantial scope for improving penetration, it said the regulator and policy makers will need to foster deeper penetration and enable use of common infrastructure.
Besides, the industry needs to build consumer awareness, co-sponsor common infrastructure, encourage appropriate market conduct and collaborate with other associated industries to create new market opportunities.

As per the report, the future direction of the general insurance sector will be shaped by the individual insurers' efforts to upgrade their capabilities, industry conduct and level of collaboration, and external influence, policy actions in particular.
"Over the last five decades, the life insurance industry has developed significantly on dimensions related to access, efficiency and structure.
"However, much of the gains of the first 10 years have been wiped out in the past 4 years as the industry has been impacted significantly by macro-economic, regulatory and internal structural challenges. The industry is at crossroads today, with a real risk of losing its relevance if the status quo continues," it added.