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Subdued new premium growth due to poor auto sales and lack of new projects have dented the general insurance industry's business expansion in FY 2015 to a three-year low of 9.3% at Rs 84,715 crore, according to provisional data.
The industry had grown by 13% in FY 2014 to Rs 77,540 crore, according to the General Insurance Council data.
"Single-digit growth for the industry was due to slump in auto and non-execution of infra projects during the year gone-by," General Insurance Council Secretary General R Chandrasekaran said.
As per the provisional figures compiled by the council, four public sector general insurers are likely to have grown to Rs 42,515 crore in FY 2015, which is a 10.1% growth over the previous fiscal.
Twenty four private sector players continued to lag behind the public sector ones with a cumulative premium collection of Rs 35,150 crore, which is just 9.9% growth over FY 2014.
Chandrasekaran said lower topline growth would have had its impact on the bottom line too as the year was marked by two major natural calamities--the Hudhud cyclone that hit the Andhra cost earlier in the year and killer floods in the Kashmir Valley.
The health insurance sector, dominated by half a dozen players, however, is likely to have grown at 30% to Rs 2,946 crore in FY 2015.
But if one excludes the specialised areas like agriculture and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation, the industry is likely to have grown by 10.6% for the fiscal.
In March alone, the industry grew by 13.7% on an annual basis," said Chandrasekaran.
