Insurance cos gain on govt's announcement of schemes

Shares of insurance companies gained up to 4 per cent after the announcement of several pension and insurance schemes in the Union Budget 2015-16.
Max India rose by 3.84 per cent, Bajaj Finserv climbed 2.8 per cent, HDFC was up 2.36 per cent and Aditya Birla Nuvo gained 1 per cent on the BSE.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced a slew of low-cost pension and insurance schemes, including Atal Pension Yojana and Universal Social Security scheme.
Atal Pension Yojana will provide defined pension according to contribution. Of this, 50 per cent contribution would be made by the government, he said while presenting the Budget for 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha.

Besides, the government proposes to launch PM Suraksha Bima Yojana to increase the access to insurance. It will be linked Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
The scheme will offer coverage of Rs 2 lakh for premium of just Rs 12 a year, he said.
"These social schemes reflect our intention that no person suffers from avoidable pain due to illness, old age," he said.