Major life insurers in India reported close to double-digit growth in the value of new business (VNB) last financial year, primarily driven by increased sales of high-margin protection and non-participating (non-par) products.
A former life insurance manager in Thane has been sentenced to two years in jail for defrauding people of over Rs 3.51 crore with false promises of high returns on stock market investments.
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.
The committee formed under the Life Insurance Council to review the commission structure in the life insurance sector has recommended capping distributor commissions or deferring them to ease acquisition costs. The recommendations will be sent to the insurance regulator -- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).
Shares of Indian life insurance companies, particularly SBI Life Insurance and Canara HSBC Life Insurance, saw significant declines after the Department of Financial Services (DFS) secretary, M Nagaraju, stated that banks are being asked to avoid exclusive tie-ups with their own insurance subsidiaries and instead remain neutral.
The life insurance industry recorded nearly 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premiums (NBP), aided by the rationalisation of goods and services tax (GST) on individual life insurance premiums, which has made policies more affordable for consumers.
The loss of input tax credit (ITC) following the rationalisation of the goods and services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance from 18 per cent to nil is may weigh on the profits of life insurers in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025-26 (FY26).
New business premiums of life insurance companies dropped 5.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in August to Rs 30,959 crore, owing to a double-digit decline reported by state-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), data from the Life Insurance Council showed. LIC recorded a 17 per cent YoY fall in new business premiums to Rs 16,023 crore during the month, while private life insurers reported a 12 per cent YoY increase to Rs 14,936 crore.
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.
Canadian firm Manulife and Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), an Indian automaker with interests in financial services, have signed an agreement to form a 50:50 life insurance joint venture (JV) with a total capital commitment of up to Rs 3,600 crore each totalling Rs 7,200 crore.
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.
Indian insurance companies are bracing for reduced profitability in Q4FY26, primarily due to the rationalisation of GST on retail life and health policies, leading to a loss of input tax credit, coupled with volatility in equity markets impacting investment income.
State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has reported a net profit of over Rs 23,400 crore for the January-March quarter, making it the highest profit-making firm in the Indian financial sector during this period, surpassing major banks like SBI and HDFC Bank.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) announced a significant 23 per cent increase in its net profit for the March quarter, reaching Rs 23,420 crore, alongside a rise in total income and premium collections.
Life insurers shifted their focus to selling high-value policies in October as the transition to new surrender value norms, effective October 1, limited their ability to roll out all products in their portfolio. This led to a 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) drop in the number of policies sold in October. Additionally, distributors engaged in a fire sale of policies in September due to uncertainty about the impact of the new norms on their commission structures.
Life insurance companies reported a 13.16 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth in new business premium (NBP), totting up Rs 30,347 crore in October, even as the number of policies sold saw a sharp decline. The growth was largely driven by strong performance from private sector life insurers.
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has launched two new mobile applications, MyLIC for policyholders and Super Sales Saathi for its sales intermediaries, aiming to enhance digital agility and cater to the younger generation's needs. The apps, part of LIC's DIVE digital transformation platform, offer features like policy management, premium payments, and personalised recommendations.
India's mutual fund industry has significantly increased its share of public trading in the stock market, widening its lead over the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for the fifth consecutive year. While LIC's share of free-float listed shares has fallen to 7.42% as of March 2026, the mutual fund industry's share has surged to 22.92% from 7.06% in 2012.
Both the life and non-life insurance segment posted over 20 per cent premium growth in November for the first time in this financial year (FY26), supported by the reduction in goods and services tax (GST) on premiums from 18 per cent to zero and a favourable base effect.
The CBI has registered a new case against Anil Ambani and Reliance Communications Ltd for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 3,750 crore to the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India.
The life insurance industry reported a 25.28 per cent decline in new business premium income in November 2023 to Rs 26,494.83 crore from Rs 34,588.8 crore recorded a year ago. The fall in group premium and change in taxation norms for policies with a higher ticket size dragged the premiums of the state-run Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and private insurers, respectively. According to the data released by the Life Insurance Council, the premium of private insurers slipped 9.33 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 10,360.29 crore from Rs 11,426.73 crore as a result of a change in product mix due to the measures taken to counter the impact of tax imposed on the premiums of Rs 5 lakh.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to launch India's largest initial public offering (IPO), estimated at Rs 30,000 crore. This mega public issue will surpass previous records held by Hyundai Motor India and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), marking a significant event in the Indian stock market. The move comes as India's primary market shows signs of recovery after a period of slowdown.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that raising the FDI limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector will help attract more capital, improve competition and increase insurance penetration by making policies more affordable.
With momentum building around the IPO, the NSE saw a surge in retail investors in the last two years, making it one of the widely traded stocks in the unlisted market.
Eight of India's top-10 most valued firms saw their combined market valuation increase by Rs 1,87,497.45 crore last week, with Bharti Airtel emerging as the largest gainer, reflecting a positive trend in the equities market.
FM's decision to make PAN card a neccessity for financial transactions has worried life insurers, who will find it difficult to tap rural India with this requirement.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) is expected to file its preliminary IPO papers with Sebi next week, marking a significant step forward for the long-awaited public offering which has been delayed for nearly a decade due to regulatory issues.
All the four listed private life insurance companies recorded a drop in value of new business (VNB) margin in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) as compared to FY23. This is because of a higher share of unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) in the product mix. VNB is a measure of the economic value of profits expected to emerge from a new business.
The government has circulated among members ofParliament a new draft of the Amendment of Insurance laws Bill, 2025, proposing stricter safeguards on the utilisation of life insurance funds and other specified insurance business funds, particularly for dividend payouts, bonuses, and servicing of debentures.
The Reserve Bank of India has approved a three-month extension for Keki Mistry as the interim chairman of HDFC Bank, continuing his tenure until September 18, 2026, or until a regular chairman is appointed.
Life insurance industry grew by over 65 per cent to Rs 5,436 crore in September compared to Rs 3,291 crore premium income from new business in July, mainly due to the success of LIC's Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana.
The life insurance industry posted 48 per cent growth in July with the Life Insurance Corporation and 12 private insurers mopping up Rs 3,291 crore in premium income, selling about 49 lakh policies during the month.
The overall physical presence of life insurance companies in Tier-II and Tier-III cities increased in FY23 compared to a year ago period on account of the higher impetus given to financial inclusion by the government and insurance regulator, as well as recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). It is the first time that there has been growth in the number of offices since the financial year 2019-20.
Life insurance companies have yet to see the entry of the younger generation in a big way. This was highlighted by N S Kannan, executive director, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, while launching an insurance product for cancer.
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.
The Nifty 50 firms' contribution to the overall earnings of India Inc has steadily declined, reaching its lowest share in at least 21 quarters at 47.1 per cent in Q4FY26, down from 51.8 per cent a year earlier.
Data released by the Life Insurance Council reveals that the total pension premium for the life insurance industry saw a growth of 159 per cent at Rs 22,268 crore (Rs 222.68 billion) for FY07 compared with Rs 8,568 crore (Rs 85.68 billion) in FY06.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
The Life Insurance Corporation of India has the wherewithal to acquire a composite license, a top source aware of the development told Business Standard, adding that the insurance behemoth may look into entering the health and general insurance segments. "LIC has the scale, capacity, IT infrastructure, and the distribution reach to take advantage of the composite license. "LIC is looking at organic as well as inorganic growth opportunities.
