Sushil Nathaniel, an LIC manager from Indore, was shot dead by terrorists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, after being forced to recite the 'Kalma'. His family has demanded the harshest punishment for the assailants. Nathaniel, who was on a family trip to celebrate Easter, was among 26 people killed in the attack. His daughter was injured in the attack, while his wife and son survived.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday allayed apprehension that privatisation of state-owned banks would hurt financial inclusion and national interest. She said the bank nationalisation done in 1969 has not yielded the desired result as far as financial inclusion was concerned.
Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) such as Bajaj Finance, Shriram Finance, Muthoot Finance, and IIFL Finance have regained their growth momentum after losing market share to banks in the post-Covid period. The growth surge is being led by diversified lenders and gold-loan companies while development-finance institutions such as Power Finance Corporation (PFC), REC, and Housing & Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) continue to grow at a slower pace.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
The All India Insurance Employees' Association has opposed the government directive seeking to open up top posts in the state-owned insurers to the private sector, saying this would lead to greater private influence and "eventual privatisation".
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has realigned its commission structures for its distributors in accordance with new surrender value norms but has no plans to introduce any "clawback", it said in a post-earnings analyst call on Friday. "It depends on our experience because the new products have been filed from October 1," said Siddhartha Mohanty, managing director and chief executive officer. The insurance regulator has revised the surrender value norms, and the revised ones came into effect on October 1.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) announced on Monday that it had signed up tech giant Infosys to develop a next-generation digital platform that will act as the foundation for new high-value business applications, such as customer and sales super apps, portals, and digital branches. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed. The tie-up with Infosys is part of LIC's "long-drawn" strategy, said a senior executive of India's biggest insurer, who noted that the IT giant "won the bid to develop the next-generation platform through a request for proposal (RFP) process".
'The government is putting insurance in the same category as food, which is essential for life.' 'Now this is an opportunity for the sector to focus on the consumer.'
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Some of the leading life insurance companies have reported a sharp decline in the number of lives covered in FY25, largely due to a slowdown in credit-linked life insurance policies. Stress in the microfinance segment has reduced loan disbursements and, in turn, the flow of new customers to insurers.
High energy costs, long a drag on India's manufacturing competitiveness, are finally easing. Power and fuel expenses accounted for 1.98 per cent of net sales in 2024-25, the lowest level in data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) over the past two decades.
'Do exhaustive research and then select the one that best fits your budget and requirements.'
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Promoters' ownership in private listed companies declined to an eight-year low of 40.58 per cent as of June 30, 2025, following a net share sale worth Rs 54,732 crore during the quarter, according to data from primeinfobase.com, an initiative of PRIME Database Group.
Despite state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) reporting an improvement in value of new business (VNB) margin in Q1FY25, analysts believe the growth has not been satisfactory in the context of the insurer's medium-term targets on margins. VNB margin is a measure of profitability of life insurance companies. LIC's VNB margin improved by 20 basis points (bps) to 13.9 per cent in Q1FY25 over the same period last year due to a change in the business mix of the insurer.
State-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has committed Rs 600 crore for its digital transformation journey, Sunder Krishnan, chief risk officer said on Wednesday. The insurance giant is also aiming to become completely "paperless" in two years. "We have hired a large system integrator for more than Rs 400 crore, a consultant for digital transformation for Rs 100 crore, and Rs 100 crore for agency transformation.
Most think tax-saving deductions exist only in the old regime. But the New one quietly retains 40+ ways to ease your tax load
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) is not keen on a composite license but it is looking to buy less than 50 per cent stake in a standalone health insurance company to enter the health insurance segment such that they have a say in the management of the company, without having to run the company, sources in the know said. "LIC doesn't need a composite licence. "Even if it is introduced, they will not opt for it.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has made the most of the stock market boom by reducing stakes in all its top conglomerates during the financial year 2023-2024 (FY24). However, even after reducing exposure, the value of its remaining stake has gone up substantially across all groups, according to data collated from stock exchange filings.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) on Wednesday said markets regulator Sebi has granted an additional 3 years time till May 16, 2027 to comply with the 10 per cent public shareholding norm. Currently, government holding in LIC is 96.50 per cent, while public holding is 3.50 per cent.
India's largest life insurer, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported encouraging performance in the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY24. Total annual premium equivalent (APE) was at Rs 21,180 crore, up 10.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), with group APE of Rs 3,890 crore, up 60 per cent Y-o-Y, though individual APE contracted 2.1 per cent Y-o-Y. The participatory book contracted 20.2 per cent Y-o-Y, but the non-par grew by 206 per cent to Rs 3,740 crore.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'While we expand into other areas, banca remains our primary channel, and we continue to be a banca-led organisation.'
After overtaking foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in market ownership, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) have further solidified their dominance. DII ownership reached a new all-time high of 17.82 per cent as of June 2025, up from 17.62 per cent at the end of March 2025, according to an analysis by Prime Database.
Ask rediffGURU and PF, MF and insurance expert Purshotam Lal your mutual fund, insurance and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'Market momentum and investor interest are at unprecedented levels, making this the opportune moment.'
There have been some cases where the entire family has perished or both spouses died in the crash, which are making the claims process particularly complex.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries has retained its position as the highest-ranked Indian company on the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list, according to the latest rankings released by the publication. The oil-to-telecom-and-retail conglomerate has been ranked at No.88 on the latest list, down from 86th position in 2024.
A nationwide strike called by trade unions to protest against the central government's labor policies had a mixed impact across India. While normal life remained largely unaffected in most parts of the country, some sectors like banking, transport, and insurance experienced disruptions. Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in West Bengal.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is set to introduce key reforms aimed at facilitating smoother mega initial public offerings (IPOs). Key among the proposals is a reduction in the quota reserved for individual investors - those applying for less than Rs 2,00,000 per application - from the current 35 per cent to 25 per cent for large IPOs (issue size above Rs 5,000 crore).
Master the online ITR filing process and then learn the differences between the old and new tax regimes to pick your best option.
Government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has seen substantial gains from its investments in Adani group shares, which have experienced a significant recovery over the past year. The value of LIC's stake in Adani group companies surged by 51.6 per cent, or Rs 22,591 crore, reaching Rs 66,388 crore as of Friday's close. This compares to Rs 43,797 crore on May 31 last year, according to stock exchange data.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which completes one year of its listing on Tuesday, presents a sorry scorecard as far as its stock market performance goes. Shares of the insurance behemoth are down 40 per cent over their issue price of Rs 949 to Rs 567 apiece. The Sensex, on the other hand, has risen 14 per cent in the past one year.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Nitin Narkhede your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'In equities, it has diversified portfolios.' 'So the short-term movement of individual stocks does not impact them.'
Insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the fourth largest insurer in the world, according to a ranking based on life and accident & health reserves of companies in 2022 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The state-owned insurer is ranked after Allianz SE, China Life Insurance Company, and Nippon Life Insurance Company. According to the report, LIC's reserves stood at $503.7 billion. Germany's Allianz SE ($750.20 billion), China Life Insurance Company ($616.90 billion) and Nippon Life Insurance Company ($536.80 billion) are the top three insurance companies in the world.
The new business premium (NBP) of life insurance companies dropped 21.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 30,218.71 crore in December 2024 on the back of a steep fall in business. According to data published by the Life Insurance Council, LIC's premium dropped 41.15 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 13,523.87 crore while private insurers reported 7 per cent growth in NBP to Rs 16,694.85 crore as the industry absorbs the impact of the revised surrender value norms.
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