Control on expenses, claims to improve combined ratio: G Srinivasan

The New India Assurance chairman and MD said global business is growing at 5-7% while the Indian business is growing at 18-20%

The Rs 10,000-crore initial public offering (IPO) of New India Assurance will hit the market next month, helping the government garner much-needed resources under its divestment plan. G Srinivasan, its chairman and managing director, tells Abhijit Lele about the state-run general insurance company’s business strategy and steps to improve its financial profile. Edited excerpts:

Underwriting losses (deficit) saw a substantial rise in 2016-17. What contributed to this?

It was largely due to health insurance, and we have done substantial corrections in the last year itself. We repriced corporate policies, and this year in April have repriced the retail health portfolio.