Magazine

Read the latest edition of AIR and MEIR as an Interactive e-book

Jan 2017

Country Profile


Journeying forward to a new era

India has all the ingredients for a vibrant insurance industry – fast growing economy; a dynamic and supportive regulator; a government that walks the talk; huge latent potential customer base and the list goes on.
 

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Life insurance: Sixteen going on seventeen!

The Indian insurance sector is now in the 16th year of operations since liberalisation and has undergone significant challenges since it opened up to private players in 2000. The life insurance segment currently contributes about 7% to India’s GDP in terms of total premiums underwritten annually. There are presently 24 companies in the segment and the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) continues to dominate the field, with about 70% market share.
 

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General insurance needs innovation and digitisation

India’s general insurance industry has arrived at a point where it can very easily leapfrog to the next trajectory in its developmental orbit. It, however, needs to ensure that it makes the best use of numerous opportunities that exist in the Indian economic ecosystem. Its strategy should be to plan for the long term while nurturing the insurance culture in the country which is still in its infancy.
 

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Reinsurance: A new chapter begins

2017 would herald the commencement of Indian branches of five or even more major global reinsurers. ITI Re, “the other Indian reinsurer”, would also begin operations in early 2017. All of them, aware of the peculiarities of the market, plan to give it a new look. 
We spoke to these reinsurers, who would soon commence operations in India, for their views on the Indian reinsurance market and challenges ahead of them.
 

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Health insurance needs a shot in the arm - Trust, technology and wellness

Government should pump in more investment in healthcare and promote primary healthcare. Indian health insurance industry, which is poorly penetrated, should also encourage improved lifestyle amongst the insureds to create a wellness society. With healthier lifestyle, this will mean lesser claims and hence lower premiums and more people will be attracted to buy insurance. Digital technology can be a great enabler to achieve this target. We spoke to some of the insurers about the Indian health insurance market and the challenges ahead.
 

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Indian aviation: Challenges and opportunities of a fast growing market

India will see a total of 367 million air passengers by 2034. Currently the ninth market, it will overtake the United Kingdom then to become the third largest market by around 2031. And Boeing forecasts  that India will need 1,740 new planes over the next 20 years. What are the implications of all these for the Indian domestic aviation insurance market? Mr Kevin Betts of McLarens Aviation explores. 
 

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India Nuclear Insurance Pool: First small step of a long journey!

Indian civil liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010 (CLNDA 2010) provides the right of recourse to Nuclear Power Corporation of India, against suppliers under certain circumstances for compensation in case of a nuclear incident. As such, nuclear plant suppliers were reluctant to sell to India, due to the provisions of this Act. To address their concerns, the Indian insurance industry set up the India nuclear insurance pool to provide capacity to insure Indian nuclear risks for up to INR1,500 crore (US$221 million). 
 

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India's demonetisation conundrum

The Indian government’s decision in November to demonetise currency notes of 500 and 1,000 denominations has caused huge disruption to businesses and trade across the country. The move has resulted in numerous deaths and also affected livelihood of millions of farmers and daily wage earners. Many are calling for a rollback but the government is firm in its stand which it says will eradicate fake notes, curb black money and eliminate corruption.
 

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