LIC drove 18% rise in life insurers' NBP in Feb

LIC posted 24.19 per cent Y-o-Y growth in NBP to Rs 19,267 crore, while private insurers recorded 11.6 per cent growth to Rs 16,150 crore.

New business premium of life insurance companies grew 18 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 35,417 crore in February, driven by robust growth at the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) due to a favourable base.

Separately, non-life insurers reported nearly 10 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premiums to Rs 23,854 crore during the month.

According to data from the Life Insurance Council, LIC posted 24.19 per cent Y-o-Y growth in NBP to Rs 19,267 crore, while private insurers recorded 11.6 per cent growth to Rs 16,150 crore.

During the month, individual premiums of life insurers rose 19.09 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 15,761 crore, while group business premiums surged 29.8 per cent to Rs 19,656 crore.

Saurabh Bhalerao, associate director (BFSI) at CareEdge Ratings, said the life insurance industry was witnessing growth largely due to favourable base effects following the implementation of surrender value norms.

Non-life insurance industry

“Growth is normalising for the industry. Meanwhile, the non-life insurance industry has returned to normal growth after accounting changes.

"However, the month has been a mixed bag for the non-life insurance industry, with some private players performing well, while other private and public-sector companies recorded a decline in premium growth during the month,” Bhalerao added.

In the April-February period of FY26, the NBP of life insurers rose 14.27 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 3.84 trillion.

How LIC fared

LIC’s NBP grew 14.43 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 2.17 trillion, while private insurers reported 14.06 per cent growth to Rs 1.67 trillion.

The number of policies sold by life insurers rose 4.37 per cent Y-o-Y to nearly 23.66 million.

Of this, LIC recorded 2.93 per cent growth to 15.10 million policies, while private life insurers posted 7.01 per cent growth to 8.6 million policies.

Health insurers

Meanwhile, standalone health insurers drove premium growth in the non-life segment.

Standalone health insurance (SAHI) companies reported a sharp 29.81 per cent Y-o-Y increase in premiums to Rs 4,199 crore.]

General insurance companies posted 11.61 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premiums to Rs 19,419 crore.

On the other hand, premiums of specialised insurers declined 78.82 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 236 crore during the month.

The non-life insurers recorded 9.35 per cent Y-o-Y growth in premiums to Rs 3.07 trillion in the April-February period.

General insurers reported 7.97 per cent growth to Rs 2.55 trillion, while standalone health insurers posted 19.04 per cent growth to Rs 40,013 crore.