Public sector general insurers loose market share

General insurance industry has witnessed a 24% growth in premium income during the first nine months of 2006-07, according to Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Total premium income for the period stood at Rs 18,577 crore in the period under consideration, against Rs 15,023 crore in the previous period. While private sector player combined recorded a growth in premium by 62.53 %, public sector players recorded a moderate growth by 9.5%.

IRDA release, show that the four public sector general insurers have lost 9% market share in the first nine months of 2006-07. By comparison, they had lost only about 6% of their pie to private players during in the whole of 2005-06. The four public sector general insurers — National Insurance, Oriental Insurance, New India Assurance and United India Insurance — collectively controlled around 65% of the market by December 2006, against 74% in December 2005.

Reliance General Insurance premium has grown by 448.42 % for the first nine months of the financial year 2006-07 from Rs 111.43 crore to 611.13 crore. The second largest increase in percetage terms was seen in the case of ICICI Lombard, which recorded a growth of 90.34 % in the premium from Rs 1,222.33 crore to Rs 2,326.53 crore for the reporting period. On the other hand, players like Tata AIG general insurance and Bajaj alliance general insurance recorded a growth by 30% and 35 % respectively


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