New India Assurance targets 18 pc growth in fiscal 2018-19

With general insurance becoming a high growth industry, the New India Assurance Company Ltd is aiming at 18 per cent growth in fiscal 2018-19, a top company official said here today.

"Due to increased awareness, general insurance industry has become a high growth industry. The company is now focusing on the retail business and will open 200 micro offices and 10,000 agents in one year," its Chairman and Managing Director, G Srinivasan said here.

The company posted a 19 per cent Year on Year growth in premium income to Rs 26,500 crore in the last financial year, he told reporters.

To a question, he said they were targetting 18 per cent growth for fiscal 2018-19.

The net profits increased by 114 per cent Year on Year to Rs 2,201 crore last year, he said, adding that the company's market share went up from 15 per cent to 15.1 per cent.

Srinivasan said there was a dip in the claims ratio for medical insurance from 114 per cent in 2016-17 to 103 per cent last year and added that they wanted to bring it down to 95 per cent this year.

He said the claims ratio for motor damage premium dropped from 84 per cent in 2016-17 to 74 per cent in 2017-18 and the target was to bring it down to 68 per cent this fiscal.

He said health care issurance was loss making, but improving.

Srinivasan said the 'Ayushman Bharat Yojana' scheme,which aims to provide medical insurance cover to 10 crore poor and vulnerable families and expected to be in place from October, would result in a substantial increase in business.