Page 7 - Insurance Times March 2017 Sample

SBI General Insurance eyes stronger growth in SME, Insurance for dental

home and health sector treatment
SBI General Insurance plans to give a Ocare, an independent Insurance
bigger thrust to SME, health and home Process as a Service (IPAAS) platform,
sector in the near future as the three has launched a group dental insur-
segments produce sustainable growth ance scheme, assuring a sum of Rs
and profitability. 25,000 per annum per person at Rs
The non-life subsidiary of State Bank of 1,699 annual premium. It is the first
India feels that along with the growing awareness for insurance cover, the product to be launched following the
Budget measures are also likely to have a positive effect on the SME. Insurance Regulatory and Develop-
ment Authority of India (IRDAI)'s
"SME has always been one of our pillars of growth because of the natural con-
guidelines on health insurance that
nect we have through our bancassurance channel. This year also we had a very
allow pilot products and products for
good growth. We are expecting stronger growth from next fiscal," Pushan
an already existing group. Currently,
Mahapatra, Managing Director and CEO, SBI General Insurance, told.
some corporate houses and a village
The company has seven products in the health segment with sum assured rang- through its gram panchayat have
ing from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. bought this policy.
New India Assurance eyes on retail segment for growth Since there is no family floater policy,
New India Assurance Company is working on a four- if a housing society were to purchase
pronged strategy in which the company will focus on it, every family member of the regis-
retail business, a key growth driver for the industry. tered members will have to purchase
a separate policy. To claim insur-
"We will open more micro offices, recruit agents, roll ance, treatment must be availed of
out some innovative products and leverage technol-
at dentists who are part of the IPAAS
ogy," G. Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Direc-
platform. "If you prefer a certain
tor, New India Assurance, said. dentist, then she/he can be included
During 2017-18, it plans to open 300 new micro of- in the platform, after providing de-
fices across Tier 2, 3 and 4 locations and will also recruit about 10,000 agents. tails such as qualifications, number of
It has about 1,400 micro offices and 70,000 agents now. years of practice etc", says Neeraj
Sheth, CEO of Ocare.
It is also planning to introduce some new products across motor, health, home
and other segments. GIC to acquire 40% of DLF
"Today, about 10,000 of our agents issue policies through portals. Our customer real estate for promotion
portal is also gaining traction and a month ago we started giving 10 per cent
discount on policies taken through our customer portals," said Srinivasan. GIC of Singapore is set to enter into
exclusive bilateral negotiations with
ITI Reinsurance all set to start operations KP Singh and his family, the promot-
ers of India's largest real estate firm
ITI Reinsurance (ITI Re), the first private sector reinsurance company in India
and promoted by Indian entrepreneurs, is all set to commence operations. ITI DLF Limited, to acquire their 40%
Re is promoted by Fortune Financial Services (India), which in turn is promoted stake in DLF Cyber City Developers
by Sudhir Valia. Limited (DCCDL), the company that
owns a portfolio of leased commer-
On the expected business opportunity, Raghavan said the Indian general insur- cial assets, including the entire Cyber
ance market is on a healthy growth phase achieving double-digit growth on a City complex in Gurgaon.
year-on-year basis. "This will obviously warrant additional demand for reinsur-
ance capacity as well as expertise in product innovation and development." The deal will help the promoters
raise about Rs 12,000 crore, valuing
Growth is already 'phenomenal' and will be further driven by agricultural insur- the rental arm at nearly Rs 40,000
ance, thanks to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. "This will also trigger a crore, inclusive of its Rs 10,000-
huge demand for reinsurance for that sector. Here too, ITI Re can play a very 11,000 crore debt, said two persons
constructive role," he said. familiar with the negotiations.
The Insurance Times, March 2017 7

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