Leading South Korean insurers explore entry into India's $130 bn market

South Korean firms Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Mirae Asset Financial Group and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co are in exploratory talks about entering India's $130 billion insurance market, three Indian sources said.

The interest comes ‍as India has opened up its insurance sector to ​full foreign ownership and follows a surge of large cross-border deals in the financial sector.

Korean firms have actively invested in a number of sectors in India, most notably automobiles and electronics. Last year, Hyundai Motors and LG Electronics listed their Indian units on local markets.

Any deals resulting from the talks would mark the first time that Korean insurance firms have entered the Indian insurance sector.

The sources, who are familiar with the discussions, said representatives of the three Korean companies had met in recent months with Indian insurers, ​market advisers and the regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), to assess ways to enter the market.

The talks are exploratory and no formal proposals have been made so far, they said. They requested anonymity because the discussions are private.

Hyundai Marine & Fire, South Korea's second-largest non-life insurer, told Reuters it was not looking to enter India immediately and was taking a "measured approach" and assessing options. It recently closed its liaison office in India.

"From a mid- to long-term perspective, we remain open to exploring a form of market entry when appropriate," a company spokesperson said.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the non-life insurance arm of Samsung, has "not made any official plans or decisions regarding entry into the Indian insurance market," a company spokesperson said.

Mirae Asset Financial Group and India's insurance regulator did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Samsung and Hyundai Marine & Fire are interested in potentially entering the non-life insurance sector, the first source said, while Mirae Asset Financial Group is focusing on life insurance.

Samsung sells non-life covers such as vehicle, property damage and liability insurance across Asia.

Seoul-headquartered Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance focuses on insurance for businesses as well as health and auto cover.

Mirae Asset, which already owns a mutual fund business in India, ‌specialises in life insurance, variable annuity and retirement products in ​South Korea.

India insurance challenges

Insurance penetration in India, as measured by total insurance premium underwritten in a year, stood at about 3.7 per cent of GDP in 2024, well below global averages, leaving room for growth.

India's insurance sector has high commissions compared to international standards and weak profitability compared to global peers.

Profit margins too remain well below those of multinational insurers in Asia, a report by Mckinsey and Co ‍said.

The discussions come as insurers prepare for long-pending reforms under a new law that gives the regulator legislative powers to set commission limits and order disgorgement of wrongful gains.

"For all three companies, both organic and inorganic routes are possible for entry," ‍the first ‌source said.

India has ​about 60 insurers with global insurers such as Prudential Plc, Sun Life Financial and AIG ‍currently operating through joint ventures with local firms.

Reuters reported last week that global reinsurers, including Samsung Re and Korean Re, are also ‍seeking ‍to expand their India presence ‌through Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), a special economic zone.