As part of its growth plans, Oriental Insurance Company would recruit about 1,000 agents in Mumbai by the fiscal-end and is in talks with companies for tie-ups to extend insurance cover for domestic appliances.

"We will add over 1,000 new agents to the existing network of 630 agents in Mumbai by March 2005," its regional manager V N Bhargava said on Tuesday.

The company wants to reach out to the whole of Mumbai, especially suburbs, for the distribution of its array of products, including its Rajrajeshwari policy for women, he said.

The company is targeting a 15 per cent growth during the current fiscal for the Mumbai region and is aiming a premium income of Rs 202 crore (Rs 2.02 billion) as against Rs 170 crore  (Rs 1.70 billion) in the previous fiscal.

Oriental Insurance is also in talks with companies for providing insurance for domestic appliances such as television sets and computers, he added.