Max New York Life keen to invest in infra development

Max New York Life is keen to improve the Indian infrastructure and is ready to invest in government bonds as a long-term investment.

Sy Sternberg, chairman and CEO of New York Life Insurance Company, who was here on Wednesday, said, "Insurance is a rapidly growing business in India. India needs large funds to develop its infrastructure like roads and bridges as suggested by the Indian Prime Minister and we are prepared to invest in India's infrastructure by investing in the infrastructure development bond."

Talking about the phenomenal growth of India's life insurance market and the company's performance in the country, Gary Bennett, MD and CEO of Indian operations, said, "We expect 100 per cent growth in the company's sales in the current fiscal while the country's life insurance market will keep growing at 50 per cent in the coming seven to eight years."

Bennett added that India overtook Mexico in premium collection this year and topped the list of nine markets in which the company operates worldwide. "We have collected $190 million from India as premium collection leaving Mexico behind with $170 million premium collection," he said and added that the company had collected just $10 million as premium from China.

On the company's total international business and India's share in it, Bennett said, "Our total premium revenue is at $2.8 billion of which international operations contributes $750 million. India accounts for $190 million."

Sternberg is expected to visit the Prime Minister's office on Friday. Talking about the proposed visit Bennett said, Sternberg was likely to discuss the issue of increasing the cap on FDI during the visit.

Confirming it, Sternberg said the issue of increasing FDI cap from 26 per cent to 49 per cent had been there on the government's agenda for nearly two years. "We hope to find out the views of the PMO officials on this during the meeting."