HDFC Standard Life Insurance will hike its capital base by over Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million) to about Rs 300 crore (Rs 3,000 million) this fiscal and targets to become the leading private player in the next five years.

"We will hike the capital by over Rs 80 crore this fiscal. At present the capital is at Rs 218 crore (Rs 2,180 million)," Deepak Satwalekar, HDFC Standard Life, CEO, told PTI in New Delhi.

HDFC Standard Life along with Reliance General and Royal Sundaram were the first three companies to receive licence from the regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority in 2000.

HDFC Standard Life, promoted by Housing Development Finance Company and American insurer Standard Life, started with a paid-up capital of Rs 168 crore (Rs 1,680 million).

The company intends to hike capital to sustain growth in business and comply with solvency norms prescribed by IRDA.

"We are targeting Rs 300 crore (Rs 3,000 million) in premium income this fiscal compared to Rs 132 crore (Rs 1,320 million) last fiscal, which translates to 127 per cent growth," Satwalekar said.

HDFC Standard Life, which is at the number two position so far, targets to become the leading private life insurer in the next five years, he said.

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance is currently the number one private life insurer, followed by HDFC Standard Life, Tata AIG Life, Birla Sunlife, Allianz Bajaj and Max New York Life.

In the first quarter of this fiscal, ICICI Prudential mopped up Rs 70.24 crore (Rs 702.4 million) in premium income, while HDFC Standard Life collected Rs 34.66 crore (Rs 346.6 million), Tata AIG [Rs 26.52 crore (Rs 265.2 million)], Birla Sunlife [Rs 24.23 crore (Rs 242.3 million)], Allianz Bajaj [Rs 18.19 crore (Rs 181.9 million)] and Max New York Life [Rs 17.52 crore (Rs 175.2 million)].