Shriram Entering General Insurance

The Rs 1,200-crore Shriram group is entering the general insurance field and will soon finalise a joint venture with a foreign partner.

Group director R Thyagarajan said yesterday that talks were in an advanced stage with a Singaporean company for participation in the Rs 5-crore equity of the new company. The proposed firm would have its headquarters in Madras and have branches in six cities, he said.

The company would not enter the health insurance business, the only insurance sector opened up for the private sector till now, but would get into lucrative areas like automobile insurance, as and when the government liberalised the sector further, he said.

 

In a bid to diversify into industry for providing real asset backing to its predominantly fund-based businesses, the Shriram group had decided to invest in logistic services and manufacture of sheet metal components and modular cooling towers, Thyagarajan disclosed.

He said these investments would be made through a group company, Shriram Transport Finance.

The company would come out with a public issue of 21 lakh secured 18 per cent fully convertible debentures of Rs 50 each at at par, Thyagarajan said.