Insurance Sector Poised For 200% Growth To Touch Rs. 2000 Bln By 2010
Indian insurance sector is likely to register unprecedented growth of 200% and attain a size of Rs. 2000 billion by 2009-10, in which a private sector insurance business will achieve a growth rate of 140% as a result of aggressive marketing technique being adopted by them against 35-40% growth rate of state owned insurance companies.
The aforesaid findings are made by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) on `Insurance in Next 2 Years’, saying that in the last couple of years, the insurance sector has grown by CAGR of around 175% and the trend will emerge still better because of potential factor. Currently, the insurance sector size is estimated at Rs.500 billion.
On account of intense marketing strategies adopted by private insurance players, the market share of state owned insurance companies like GIC, LIC and others have come down to 70% in last 4-5 years from over 97%.
The private insurance players despite the sector is still regulated has been offering rate of return (RoR) to its policy holders which is estimated at about 35% as against 20% of domestic insurance companies. This factor is mainly responsible for hike in private insurance market share which will grow further which is why the ASSOCHAM estimates that its growth rate could even exceed 140%.
Secondly, the state owned insurance companies such as LIC and GIC have limited number of policies to offer to their subscribers while in case of private insurance companies, their policy numbers are many more and the premium amount as well as the maturity period is much competitive as against those of government insurance companies. Interestingly, said Mr. Dhoot that the private sector insurance players have started exploring the rural markets in which until recently, the state owned companies had the monopoly.
The Chamber has projected that in rural markets, the share of private insurance players would increase substantially as these have been able to generate a faith among their rural consumers.
Estimating the potential of the Indian insurance market from the perspective of macro-economic variables such as the ratio of premium to GDP, ASSOCHAM reveals that India’s life insurance premium, as a percentage of GDP is 1.8% against 5.2% in the US, 6.5% in the UK or 8% in South Korea.
ASSOCHAM findings further reveal that in the coming years, the corporate segment, as a whole will not be a big growth area for insurance companies. This is because penetration is already good and companies receive good services. In both volumes and profitability therefore, the scope for expansion is modest. The Chamber has suggested that insurer’s strategy should be to stimulate demand in areas that are currently not served at all. Insurance companies mostly focus on manufacturing sector, however, the services sector is taking a large and growing share of India’s GDP. This offers immense opportunities for expansion opportunities.
To understand the prospects for insurance companies in rural India, it is very important to understand the requirements of India's villagers, their daily lives, their peculiar needs and their occupational structures. There are farmers, craftsmen, milkmen, weavers, casual labourers, construction workers and shopkeepers and so on. More often than not, they are into more than one profession.
The rural market offers tremendous growth opportunities for insurance companies and insurers should develop viable and cost-effective distribution channels; build consumer awareness and confidence. The ASSOCHAM found that there are a total 124 million rural households. Nearly 20% of all farmers in rural India own a Kissan Credit cards. The 25 million credit cards used till date offer a huge data base and opportunity for insurance companies. An extensive rural agent network for sale of insurance products could be established. The agent can play a major role in creating awareness, motivating purchase and rendering insurance services.
There should be nothing to stop insurance companies from trying to pursue their own unique policies and target whatever needs that they want to target in rural India. ASSOCHAM suggests that insurance needs to be packaged in such a form that it appears as an acceptable investment to the rural people.
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