LIC targets 3 cr new policy sales this year, Q1 premia up 31%

To sell policies worth around Rs 31,000 cr this fiscal year

Life Insurance Corporation, which has seen its market share steeply falling below the 70% mark last fiscal for the first time, has set an ambitious target of selling as many as 3 crore new policies worth around Rs 31,000 crore this fiscal year.

"The Corporation has set first premium income target of Rs 31,000 crore and 3 crore policies for 2015-16. We have already clocked a healthy 31% growth at over Rs 5,700 crore in the first quarter of the current fiscal year," chairman S K Roy told PTI in an interview on completion of his two years at the helm of the nation's largest financial powerhouse.

To achieve this, the Corporation "will be focusing on adding the number of marketing intermediaries, increase competency and professionalism of our field force and launch innovative products apart from periodical review of our marketing strategies," Roy said.

However, he added that the tied channel shall continue to be the core distribution channel. The Corporation is open to exploring other channels depending as well.

Sounding bullish about a better show this year, he said, "We are fully geared up and are confident of putting up a better show in the current fiscal year."

It can be recalled that LIC's market share in new premium business fell to 69.21% in 2014-15 as the Corporation did not have any Ulips in the market.

This was for the first time since the industry was opened to private players that LIC lost so badly, losing a full 5% of new premium market and taking their combined share to 30% in 2014-15, according to annual data from the Life Insurance Council.

The Corporation could not introduce new products during the year, especially Ulips, after the regulator Irda forced its hand to withdraw many of its existing offerings.

Due to this, LIC saw a whopping 14% decline in its new premium collection and a still steeper 42% plunge in the number of policies during the year, pulling down its overall market share to 69.21% from 75% in 2013-14.